The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment has warned that it will take disciplinary or court action against any adviser falsely claiming CFP status.

In response to the latest Which? report on financial advisers publishing false credentials in online, paid-for listings services, Kevin Moore Chartered FCSI, CISI global head of business development, said the CISI would not hesitate to take action to protect the Certified Financial Planner designation in the UK.

There are over 160,000 Financial Planners around the world including about 1,000 in the UK and the CISI holds the UK licence for the CFP designation. Which? highlighted recently that many entries on Unbiased.co.uk and other adviser directories were using old or out of date references to Chartered Financial Planner or Certified Financial Planner statuses creating a false impression about the level of qualifications held by some advisers. Unbiased has promised to tighten up on its vetting.

Mr Moore said: “If we get to hear of any advisers falsely claiming to hold the Certified Financial Planner designation, or any of our designations, we will investigate this immediately.

“If subsequently we discover the adviser is fraudulently misrepresenting themselves we will take disciplinary or legal action against that individual and this could result in that individual losing their membership of the CISI.”

He reminded all CISI members and CFP^TM professionals that they were “personally responsible” for updating all details relevant to their CISI membership, CFP^TM designation or AFPF^TM status listing on commercial listings websites which they themselves may have paid for and signed up to.

He added: “All CISI members have to comply with the CISI Code of Conduct which requires members to uphold the highest personal and professional standards at all times, and act with integrity whilst seeking to avoid any acts, omissions or business practices which damage the reputation of their organisation or the financial services industry”.

“If UK consumers wish to check out if their Financial Planner is a CFP^TM professional they can look at our CISI Wayfinder listing. This listing shows CISI firms who have achieved Accredited Financial Planning FirmTM (AFPF^TM) status and Financial Planners holding the CFP^TM license.

He said that consumers can also search CISI’s global community of financial services professionals and verify their membership status via the CISI’s Member Directory.”

Reports can be made about individuals who may be mis-using either the CFP^TM or CISI designatory letters by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and providing details of the individual in question, said the professional body.