CFP Board Promotes Public Trust With Five Actions

Associated Press

21-03-2025

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board), a nonprofit organization with more than 100,000 CFP ® professionals, today announced actions taken to uphold its ethical standards, imposing sanctions on five individuals.
CFP Board is a professional body that has adopted a Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (Code and Standards) that benefits and protects the public and advances financial planning as a distinct and valuable profession. The Code and Standards requires that a CFP ® professional meet certain duties when providing professional services to a client, and to refrain from engaging in other misconduct that reflects adversely on their integrity or fitness as a certificant, on the CFP ® marks or on the profession. CFP ® professionals make a commitment to CFP Board to abide by the Code and Standards, and their compliance reinforces the integrity of the CFP Board certification marks. CFP Board does not guarantee a CFP ® professional's services, but it may sanction a CFP ® professional who fails to uphold their commitment. Information about how CFP Board addresses ethical issues involving CFP ® professionals and those pursuing initial CFP ® certification is available at CFP.net/enforcement.
At CFP.net/verify, the public can verify an individual's CFP ® certification status. CFP Board also provides links to other sources of information about CFP ® professionals that may be more recent or that may contain information that has not led to CFP Board discipline and does not appear on CFP Board's website, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's (FINRA's) BrokerCheck and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Investment Adviser Public Disclosure databases for individuals who are subject to FINRA or SEC oversight. CFP Board is not a federal, state or self-regulatory organization, and it does not sanction financial services firms.
The Public Sanctions on Five Individuals
STATE
NAME
LOCATION
SANCTION
Michigan
John M. Derbin Jr., CFP ®
Grand Rapids
Public Censure
New York
Marat Likhtenstein
New York
Suspension
Ohio
Gary L. Arnold
Canton
Suspension
Pennsylvania
David E. Martin
Pittsburgh
Suspension
California
Cyril B. Roseman
La Mesa
Revocation
PUBLIC CENSURE
MICHIGAN
John M. Derbin Jr., CFP ® (Grand Rapids, Michigan) In February 2025, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order imposing a public censure on Mr. Derbin for violating Standard A.8.a. of CFP Board's Code and Standards, which requires a CFP ® professional to comply with the laws, rules and regulations governing professional services; and Standard D.2.a. of the Code and Standards for violating his firm's policies and procedures. In September 2021, Mr. Derbin's firm suspended him for 30 days, fined him $5,000 and required that he meet with compliance officers and take continuing education courses after he impersonated a client on a telephone call with the client's retirement plan provider. The Commission's order also cites a May 24, 2022, letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) that Mr. Derbin entered into with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) in which Mr. Derbin consented to findings that, by impersonating a client, he violated FINRA Rule 2010. The FINRA AWC imposed a 10-day suspension and a $2,500 fine. Read the order: Case History 43580.
NEW YORK
Marat Likhtenstein (New York, New York): In September 2024, counsel to the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission issued an order imposing an automatic interim suspension of Mr. Likhtenstein's CFP Board certification and right to use the CFP Board certification marks. In a notice sent to counsel for the Commission and to Mr. Likhtenstein under Article 2.1 of CFP Board's Procedural Rules, CFP Board enforcement counsel provided evidence that Mr. Likhtenstein entered into an August 5, 2024, Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) that permanently bars him from associating with any FINRA member. The AWC states that Mr. Likhtenstein violated FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010 by refusing to provide information, documents and on-the-record testimony requested by FINRA. Under Articles 2.1.b.3. and 7.2 of the Procedural Rules, FINRA's permanent bar against Mr. Likhtenstein is grounds for an automatic interim suspension. The suspension was effective September 9, 2024. Read the order: Case History 46970.
OHIO
Gary L. Arnold (Canton, Ohio): In March 2025, a hearing panel of the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission issued an order imposing on Mr. Arnold an interim suspension of his CFP Board financial planning certification and right to use the CFP ® marks. CFP Board's enforcement counsel filed a petition for the interim suspension on December 18, 2024, based on a letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) Mr. Arnold entered into with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) on October 16, 2024. In the AWC, Mr. Arnold consented to a three-month suspension from associating with any FINRA member, a $10,000 fine and other conditions for violating FINRA Rules 3110 and 2010. The hearing panel concluded that Mr. Arnold's conduct reflected adversely on his integrity or fitness as a CFP ® professional, on the CFP Board certification marks or on the profession; that his conduct likely would result in a sanction of a suspension or greater under CFP Board's Sanction Guidelines; and that an interim suspension order would be in the public interest. The interim suspension was effective March 11, 2025. Read the order: Case History 47512.
PENNSYLVANIA
David E. Martin (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania): In October 2024, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order suspending Mr. Martin's CFP Board certification and right to use the CFP Board certification marks for three years. The Commission found that Mr. Martin violated Rule 4.3 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct, which requires a CFP ® professional to comply with applicable regulatory requirements governing professional services provided to the client, and Rule 3.6, which prohibits a CFP ® professional from borrowing money from a client. In 2018, Mr. Martin entered into an agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities in which he consented to findings that, from February 2012 until at least November 2017, he borrowed money from clients in violation of state law. The Commission found that Mr. Martin had personally guaranteed interest payments to clients on loans they made to a real estate investment vehicle in which other clients of Mr. Martin had invested. The loans allowed those other clients to be made whole on their investment. In determining a sanction against Mr. Martin, the Commission cited several aggravating factors, including his failure to disclose potential conflicts of interest, his inability to produce records related to the transactions at issue and his apparent failure to perform adequate due diligence before identifying his clients as potential investors in the real estate investment. The Commission's order also requires that Mr. Martin hire an established securities compliance consultant to assist him in the preparation of a comprehensive written policies and procedures manual that incorporates the Code and Standards into his practice. Mr. Martin's suspension was effective December 15, 2024. Read the order: Case History 44782.
REVOCATION
CALIFORNIA
Cyril B. Roseman (La Mesa, California): In January 2025, counsel to the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission issued an administrative order revoking Mr. Roseman's CFP ® certification and permanently barring him from future CFP ® certification. CFP Board enforcement counsel notified Mr. Roseman in September 2023 that it was investigating a February 2023 Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing — Mr. Roseman's second — and repeatedly asked Mr. Roseman to provide two years of tax returns but never received them. On July 24, 2024, enforcement counsel sent Mr. Roseman a notice of failure to cooperate under Article 1.3.d. of CFP Board's Procedural Rules, allowing him time to cure the failure by producing the requested documents. Mr. Roseman failed to do so and was, therefore, in default under Article 4.1.c. Enforcement counsel filed a motion for an administrative order revoking Mr. Roseman's CFP ® certification based on a determination of the seriousness, scope and harmfulness of Mr. Roseman's conduct. Counsel for the Commission granted the motion on January 17, 2025. The order was effective on February 17, 2025. Read the order: Case History 45907.
ABOUT CFP BOARD
CFP Board is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board consists of two affiliated organizations focused on advancing the financial planning profession for the public's benefit. CFP Board of Standards sets and upholds standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ® certification — widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planners — so that the public has access to the benefits of competent and ethical financial planning. CFP ® certification is held by more than 100,000 people in the U.S. CFP Board Center for Financial Planning addresses diversity and workforce development challenges and conducts and publishes research that adds to the financial planning profession's body of knowledge.
SOURCE: CFP Board
Copyright Business Wire 2025.
PUB: 03/21/2025 02:00 PM/DISC: 03/21/2025 01:59 PM