Updated Terms and Conditions of Certification and Trademark License, Effective September 30, 2021

CFP Board is sending this notice to advise you that the Terms and Conditions of Certification and Trademark License ("Terms") have been revised, effective September 30, 2021.

Read the full text of the revised Terms  and Review a redlined copy of the revised Terms.

The Terms set forth the contractual agreement between CFP Board and each individual CFP® professional. CFP Board periodically updates the Terms, and these latest revisions to the Terms introduce technical revisions that improve the quality of the document, in addition to these changes:

1. Clarification that a CFP® professional may not state that CFP Board approves any services that a CFP® professional provides. (Section c.)
2. Clarification that the requirement for a CFP® professional to comply with CFP Board’s Current Standards and Policies includes dates during any interval between certification periods when the CFP® professional did not have a Certification or Trademark License or when the CFP® professional’s Certification or Trademark License was suspended. (Section d.)
3. Addition of language in Section d. that CFP Board is not responsible for and has no right to control a CFP® professional’s services. (This language was previously in Section h.)
4. Clarification that quality control refers to the use of the CFP Board certification marks, not to a CFP® professional’s services, which are governed by the Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct. (Section h.)
5. Clarification regarding the information that CFP Board now reviews in conducting background checks. (Section i.)
6. Clarification that an individual remains bound by the Pathway to CFP® Certification Agreement after becoming a CFP® professional. (Section j.)
7. A new provision providing that CFP Board may sanction a CFP® professional for conduct that occurs prior to their certification if that conduct is not disclosed to CFP Board prior to certification. (Section j.)
8. Clarification that a CFP® professional is bound by the Procedural Rules until the last date that they are subject to a sanction under these Terms. (Section n.)
9. Clarification that what is excluded from a CFP® professional’s release of claims is a claim brought in arbitration challenging a decision of the Code and Standards Enforcement Committee. (Section o.)
10. Clarification to reinforce the point that the arbitration clause requires exhaustion of remedies at CFP Board before a CFP® professional may pursue arbitration (including with respect to claims for breach of common law due process), and that if a CFP® professional files an arbitration, then the final Code and Standards Enforcement Committee decision is stayed pending the results of that arbitration. (Section r.)

CFP Board encourages all CFP® professionals and candidates for CFP® certification to familiarize themselves with the revised Terms.

Questions concerning this Notice may be directed to Leo G. Rydzewski, General Counsel, at 800-487-1497 or compliance@cfpboard.org.