Leo G. Rydzewski has been lead counsel in compensation-description litigation for the board, and in part replaces Michael Shaw, who left Dec. 12.
The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. said Tuesday it hired its lead counsel in compensation-description litigation as its first general counsel.
Leo G. Rydzewski, a former partner in the Washington office of the law firm Holland & Knight, will oversee ethical standards and enforcement related to the CFP designation as well as give broader legal direction to the CFP Board. He essentially replaces Michael Shaw, the organization's former managing director for legal and professional standards.
“This position will provide the strategic corporate counsel that the CFP Board needs in our effort to reach our business and legal needs,” CFP Board chief executive Kevin Keller said. “This is a broader position with broader responsibility.”
Mr. Shaw lost his job in December when it was changed to encompass more tasks.
(More: CFP Board quietly cutting deals on compensation descriptions)
“His departure is a result of the restructuring of the position that we're talking about here today,” Mr. Keller said.
The compensation-description case that Mr. Rydzewski has been spearheading involved Jeffrey and Kimberly Camarda, married Florida planners who the CFP Board claims improperly used the fee-only compensation description. He will continue to oversee this case as the CFP Board's top lawyer.
Mr. Rydzewski's experience on the Camarda case makes him a perfect fit for the general counsel position, Mr. Keller said.
“He gained an in-depth understanding of our standards of professional conduct,” Mr. Keller said. “He's lived with them for the last two years and he is well positioned to oversee the continued enforcement of our standards.”
Those requirements, as they apply to the use of the fee-only label, have sparked controversy over the last few years. In addition to the Camarda action, the CFP Board forced a former chairman, Alan Goldfarb, to resign following allegations of a misleading compensation description.
The CFP Board also is reviewing the fee-only status of planners listed on its website and recently came to an agreement in a high-profile situation involving Rick Kahler, a South Dakota financial planner.
Bringing Mr. Rydzewski, 46, on board won't change the organization's approach to the Camarda case or in how it handles compensation disputes.
“We don't see any impact on the litigation,” Mr. Keller said. “We anticipate business as usual as we move forward with the enforcement of our standards of professional conduct. Leo and I both believe that the [compensation] definitions are clear."
In enforcing standards for the CFP mark, Mr. Rydzewski will work with John Loesch, a former Securities and Exchange Commission official who was recently appointed CFP Board director of investigations, and Adam Zajac, the director of adjudication.
“It is that enforcement that differentiates CFP certification,” Mr. Keller said. “It's what gives us respect among policymakers ... [and] it's what makes the public have confidence.”
The CFP Board sets and enforces the educational, experience and ethical requirements for the CFP mark, which is held by 71,400 planners in the United States.
