10.3 College for Financial Planning / Kaplan Code of Ethics and Professional Standards

College standards: five tenets and continuing authorization

The College for Financial Planning's Code of Ethics has three components: professional conduct, disclosure of prior allegations or violations, and compliance with the terms governing designation use. Its published professional-conduct list has five tenets: integrity, objectivity, competency, confidentiality, and professionalism. Do not substitute another organization's seven-principle list or assume that every professional credential has the same enforcement process.

A CRPC designation is a credential, not a securities or insurance license. It does not authorize drafting wills, practicing law, selling a regulated product without the required license, or representing that the College guarantees investment results. The counselor must identify which obligations arise from the designation, which arise from a firm or regulator, and which require referral.

Applying the five tenets

Fairness and diligence remain valuable professional practices, but they are not two additional named tenets in this College list. Explain the actual duty in the scenario instead of trying to import labels from a different code.

Integrity and objective advice

Suppose a client has a low-cost employer plan and asks about an IRA rollover. An objective comparison includes fees, services, investments, distribution access, employer stock, creditor rules, and the client's ability to manage the account. The counselor should disclose new compensation and explain why any additional cost provides value for that client. A higher fee is neither automatically justified nor automatically prohibited.

Likewise, a pension-maximization illustration must include premium guarantees and lapse risk. A counselor who shows only the higher single-life pension while hiding the loss of survivor protection has failed to communicate a material trade-off. Integrity concerns the completeness and accuracy of the presentation, even when the client ultimately chooses the same product.

Competency and referral

Retirement practice crosses tax, insurance, investment, and legal disciplines. Competency includes knowing when to consult another qualified professional. A counselor can identify an outdated beneficiary form, explain why a will alone may not change it, and coordinate a review. They should not decide a contested divorce-law issue or create an irrevocable trust without the necessary legal authority.

When annual figures change, record the year and source. A 2025 contribution limit can be a valid historical example but is an incorrect 2026 ceiling. Explain assumptions in calculations and obtain missing facts before making a recommendation. A professional designation does not replace the need for training on the products and services actually offered.

Disclosure and designation applications

The College requires disclosure on the initial application and each renewal about criminal, civil, self-regulatory, and governmental inquiries, investigations, or proceedings. Read the current questions and Terms and Conditions and answer fully. Do not invent a universal College requirement to report every listed event within 30 days. A regulator, employer, or another credential may impose a separate prompt-reporting deadline.

The catalog identifies serious financial-crime and violent-felony convictions, nonadministrative professional-license suspensions or revocations, and multiple bankruptcies among the matters affecting authorization. Other matters receive individual review. Pending proceedings can delay a decision. Neither an allegation nor a renewal submission should be treated as automatic permission to use the mark.

For example, a designee with a securities-license suspension must comply with that regulator's restrictions, notify their firm's compliance team under its policies, and make the College disclosures required by the application and renewal terms. The counselor must not wait for a conviction if the question asks about investigations or proceedings.

Disciplinary process and deadlines

The current catalog provides an investigation and notification process, followed by Ethical Conduct Committee review. A formal Charging Letter allows 10 days for a written response; failure to respond is treated as an admission. A self-disclosure investigation notice likewise allows 10 days for additional information. The Committee may ask the designee to meet.

Outcomes can include a warning, suspension up to one year, or revocation, depending on severity. Decisions may be appealed within five days of the outcome-notice date. Do not describe all revocations as nonappealable or teach an invented one-to-five-year suspension schedule. Keep the date of the actual notice and the applicable catalog in the case file.

Renewal and proper mark use

CRPC renewal requires 16 CE hours every two years, the applicable conduct and disclosure confirmations, and the $100 biennial renewal fee currently listed by Kaplan. CE must meet the College's topic and documentation standards. The current general requirement does not establish a separate mandatory ethics-hour component for every CRPC renewal. Another license can impose its own ethics requirement.

Keep completion documentation. Extra CE hours do not roll over under the catalog's rules. A marketing presentation is not automatically qualifying CE. An expired designation is not authorized for use while the holder is resolving missed requirements; follow the actual late-renewal and reinstatement procedures.

Use the mark as permitted by the College's current marks guidelines, for example Jane Doe, CRPC®, or refer to a CRPC® designee. Do not call it an academic degree, pluralize the mark into “CRPCs,” or use it as a guarantee of performance. Combining an accurately stated academic degree and a designation after a name is not by itself prohibited. The issue is accurate meaning, authorization, and mark format.

Practical case resolution

A useful ethics answer identifies the client interest at risk, the specific duty, the disclosure or referral needed, and the action to document. For a misleading annuity projection, correct the projection and explain contract limits. For an unauthorized disclosure, stop further sharing and follow the firm's incident procedures. For a College notice, observe the response deadline and preserve records. These are concrete applications of the five tenets, not substitutes for the governing rule.

Sources and review date

Checked October 19, 2026: CFFP 2026–2027 catalog, printed pages 126–128. Annual limits apply to the year explicitly identified; examples state their assumptions.