Press Release  Thursday, Oct 08, 2015

Financial Planning Standards Board Welcomes Netherlands-Based Federatie Financieel Planners to Global Financial Planning Community

TOKYO, 8 OCTOBER 2015 – Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB), owner of the international CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification program outside the United States, welcomed the merger of Financial Planning Standards Board Nederland (FPSB Nederland) with Stichting Certificering Federatie Financieel Planners (SCFFP), the certification arm of Federatie Financieel Planners (FFP), which was announced today at FFP’s member conference in Nieuwegein. FPSB Nederland and FFP expect to complete all aspects of the merger by the end of the year, at which point SCFFP will assume responsibility for the administration of the globally-recognized CFP certification program in The Netherlands.

“FPSB Nederland’s merger with FFP will greatly strengthen the resources and reach of the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification in The Netherlands, and connects FFP members to the global community of almost 160,000 CFP professionals in 26 territories worldwide,” said Noel Maye, chief executive officer of FPSB. “FFP, with its focus on financial planning standards and commitment to growing the profession, is a natural partner for FPSB. Combining the talents, resources and focus of FPSB Nederland and FFP, and connecting them to FPSB’s global efforts to promote financial planning professionalism, will greatly benefit financial planning stakeholders in The Netherlands.”

“FFP is pleased to join the global financial planning community represented by FPSB in 26 territories around the world,” said Marc Van Poeteren, FFP chairman. “FFP is committed to building a financial planning profession in The Netherlands that is comprised of practitioners who are competent, ethical and put their clients’ interests first.”

At the end of 2014, there were 132 CFP professionals in the Netherlands. As part of its merger with FPSB Nederland, SCFFP will replace its existing FFP certification with the CFP certification program, and will work to migrate more than 3.500 existing FFP professionals to CFP certification. Two FPSB Nederland board members, Angelo van Nies, CFP, and Wim Biemans, CFP, will serve on the SCFFP Board of Directors for two years to assist with the transition.

Maye also added, “We appreciate the FPSB Nederland team for pioneering CFP certification in The Netherlands, and for upholding FPSB’s global standards since 2009. The CFP certification program in The Netherlands remains in good hands, and we look forward to working with SCFFP.”

About FPSB

FPSB manages, develops and operates certification, education and related programs for financial planning organizations to benefit the global community by establishing, upholding and promoting worldwide professional standards in financial planning. FPSB demonstrates its commitment to excellence with the marks of professional distinction – CFP, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and CFP Logo mark – which it owns in markets outside the United States. FPSB has a nonprofit member organization in the following 26 territories: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. At the end of 2014, there were 157,586 CFP professionals worldwide. For more, visit fpsb.org.

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