France and Germany Join International Council

October 1997, Denver - Last week France and Germany signed an affiliation agreement with the CFP Board of Standards in the United States. They are now licensed to use the CFP and Certified Financial Planner marks in their respective countries. On October 13, 1997 the Conseils en Gestion de Patrimoine Certifies (CGPC)(Registered Council of Financial Planning Management), a non-profit financial planning membership based in Paris, signed a licence and affiliation agreement. On October 15,1997 the European Business School (EBS) located in Oestrich-Winkel, Germany signed a similar agreement.

Under terms of the agreements, effective immediately, these two organizations will be able to grant use of the CFP and Certified Financial Planner designations to financial planners in France and Germany who meet standards of education, examination, experience and ethics for financial planning.

'Canada joins Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, in welcoming Germany and Japan to the International CFP Council,' said Donald J. Johnston, President of the Financial Planners Standards Council of Canada. 'As more and more countries embrace the CFP certification process and work to establish financial planning as a profession worldwide, we expect the CFP designation to quickly become the globally-recognized standard for competent and ethical financial planning advice.'

'Since financial planning has begun to develop as a profession in France, the introduction of a certification system such as the one created by the CFP Board appeared to be appropriate, necessary and desirable,' said Bernard Camblain, president of the Registered Council of Financial Planning Management. 'The quality of the training programs of the Institute Superior d'Etudes Financieres (ISEFI) group and at the University of ASX-Marseille have contributed greatly to the development of the CFP program in France,' added Claude Bensoussan, vice-president of CGPC and director of ISEFI.

'The CFP will bring a seal of quality to the German financial marketplace, as most of the important private banks are members of our newly-established financial planning association, Deutscher Verband Financial Planners (DVFP),' said Professor Karl-Werner Schulte, president of the EBS European International School FINANZAKADEMIE and the individual responsible for bring the CFP designation to Germany.

The International CFP Council, an international assembly of financial planning bodies, was founded in 1990 to promote the professionalism of individuals and organizations offering personal financial planning services and to ensure that such services are offered in an ethical and competent throughout the world. As of September 30,1997 there were more than 38,000 individuals licensed to use the Certified Financial Planner and CFP marks around the world, in Canada there are 4,700 CFPs.

For further information contact:

Don Bills, Director of International Operations, CFP Board
Tel: 303/839-0605
Email: dbills@cfp-board.org

Ms. Danielle Diakite, International Relations Manager,ISEFI, France
Tel: 33/91-82-