Financial Planning Coalition to Testify Before House Committee on Financial Services Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16, 2009—The Financial Planning Coalition will testify on the need to better protect consumers seeking financial advice on Friday, July 17 at 11 a.m. (EDT) at the House Committee on Financial Services hearing to examine financial services reform.

The hearing – “Industry Perspectives on the Obama Administration’s Financial Regulatory Reform Proposals” – will look closely at President Obama’s white paper titled Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation. The Coalition will be represented by Diahann W. Lassus, CFP®, CPA/PFS, Chair of The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), who will advocate for more rigorous standards for financial intermediaries who deliver financial planning advice. The Coalition is comprised of NAPFA, CFP Board of Standards, Inc. and the Financial Planning Association.

In the prepared testimony, Ms. Lassus will call for functional regulation of financial planners and the establishment of baseline standards for training, experience and competence. Lassus will also point to the need for an unambiguous fiduciary duty for all financial planners and advisors while also imploring Congress to avoid undermining the fiduciary duty already in place under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

“We are pleased that Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Ranking Member Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) and the members of the Committee are interested in the perspective the Coalition has on this pressing issue. We look forward to working with Congress to ensure consumers seeking financial planning advice are protected,” said the Coalition in a joint statement.

The Coalition was formed in December 2008 to provide the financial planning profession with a strong, unified voice in anticipation of financial regulation reform. Its goal is to establish statutory recognition of the financial planning profession and enhance consumer protection by encouraging regulations that will help the public identify those competent, ethical professionals who should be subject to a fiduciary duty in the delivery of financial planning advice. The Coalition has also called for the establishment of a professional standards-setting oversight board for financial planners that would be subject to federal authority.

About FPA: The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) is the leadership and advocacy organization connecting those who provide, support and benefit from professional financial planning. FPA demonstrates and supports a professional commitment to education and a client-centered financial planning process. Based in Denver, Colo., FPA has close to 100 chapters throughout the country representing more than 29,500 members involved in all facets of providing financial planning services. Working in alliance with academic leaders, legislative and regulatory bodies, financial services firms and consumer interest organizations, FPA is the community that fosters the value of financial planning and advances the financial planning profession. For more information about FPA, visit www.FPAnet.org or call 800.322.4237.

About NAPFA: Since 1983, The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) has provided Fee-Only financial planners across the country with some of the strictest guidelines possible for professional competency, comprehensive financial planning, and Fee-Only compensation. With more than 2,000 members across the country, NAPFA has become the leading professional association in the United States dedicated to the advancement of Fee-Only financial planning. For more information on NAPFA, please visit www.napfa.org.

National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
Nancy Hradsky
Special Projects Manager
800.366.2732, ext. 103