The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has now bolstered its ethical standards for financial planners who can use its CFP certification designation. The intent is to get the American consumer to the point of trusting that their financial planners who have this particular mark will be placing the clients’ interests well ahead of their own. According to Karen Schaeffer, who chairs the CFP’s Board of Directors, the demand for financial planning is high and growing. “Each day millions of Americans must make important financial decisions, from Baby Boomers on the verge of retirement to the younger generations looking for ways to build their nest eggs.” She adds, “As company-sponsored pensions are being replaced by self-administered 401(k)s and IRAs, and as more responsibility for medical coverage shifts to individuals, Americans today are often required to make a broader range of fiduciary decisions than the decisions their parents made, and more people are finding professional financial planning assistance a necessity.” Interestingly-enough, in a recent survey commissioned by the CFP Board, 97 percent of the more than 1,100 participants identified trustworthiness a the most important factor they considered when looking for a professional financial advisor. That’s pretty much where that code of ethics and practice standards come in, and it also helps to explain the CFP Board’s dedication (and rightly so) in making ethical financial planning available to the public. By the way, some recent updates to these ethical standards, which take effect in July of next year, significantly strengthens the ethical requirements for the more than 55,000 CFP professionals. The CFP people even help the consumer by listing a series of questions that a consumer might want to consider when retaining a financial planner, such as: What experience do you have? What services do you offer? What is your approach to financial planning? Will you be the only person working with me? How will I pay for your services? How much do you typically charge? Could someone besides me benefit from your recommendations? Have you ever been publicly disciplined for any unlawful or unethical actions? Can I have it in writing? I love that last one! According to Schaeffer, “Integrity, competence, and the desire to create trusting relationships with consumers are the cornerstones of CPR certification.” The CFP people deserve a big ovation. They certainly are following through on that.

Scandal-tainted Japanese accounting firm Misuzu Audit, formerly known as ChuoAoyama PricewaterhouseCoopers, has disbanded after 39 years, according to Kyodo News.

Ray Schmidt, chief information officer of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, is stepping down after five years to take a job in the private sector.

The American Institute of CPAs scored a victory this week in convincing House lawmakers to remove a provision in the Farm Bill Extension Act of 2007 that it feared could jeopardize the business of CPAs in farming communities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun distributing $267 million to about 200,000 investors from the fund it set up as part of its settlement with Qwest Communications over allegations of accounting fraud.

The International Federation of Accountants is internationalizing its Web site and turning it into a veritable United Nations by translating key parts of it into Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish.

A Securities and Exchange Commission advisory committee began meeting to consider ways to make financial reporting more understandable and relevant to investors.

Accounting firm Coulter & Justus has sold its Technology Solutions Group to Axis Integrated Solutions, a software reseller that works with Sage Software.

Two CPA firms on California's central coast have announced a merger: Bianchi, Lorincz, Huey, Hudson & Co. and Kasavan & Pope.

General Electric vice president and comptroller Phillip Ameen has joined the advisory board of BNA Tax and Accounting's Accounting Policy & Practice Series.

Grant Thornton CEO Edward E. Nusbaum has worked with the firm for 28 years, but since he took over the helm, the Chicago-based firm has more than doubled its revenue in the last four years, reaching $940 million in 2006.

This week marks the five-year anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The legislation has proven to be a boon to many accountants and auditing firms, but a bane to many public companies.

Motive has dropped Ernst & Young as its independent auditing firm after its audit committee conducted an investigation into its own past accounting practices, helped by a law firm that hired PricewaterhouseCoopers.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox says small public companies should start getting ready to comply with the stricter auditing rules of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but left open the possibility of another deferral of the requirement.

Huron Consulting Group has acquired Callaway Partners for $60 million in cash to add Callaway's finance and accounting project management expertise to Huron's financial and consulting services.

You might be surprised what qualifies as an unforeseen circumstance for the partial exclusion of gain on the sale of a personal residence. Under this special rule, taxpayers are allowed to exclude gain up to a reduced maximum exclusion amount under Section 121(c) if the sale is due to a change in place of employment, health, or unforeseen circumstances even though it was used for less than two of the five preceding years as the personal residence.

Two-thirds of investors would be concerned about any easing of Sarbanes-Oxley rules, according to a national survey by the Center for Audit Quality, released in conjunction with the five-year anniversary of the legislation.

Three academics from the U.K. who have written a book about auditing, and a Virginia professor who has developed a taxation education curriculum, will receive awards from Deloitte & Touche’s not-for-profit Deloitte Foundation.

Carol Stacey, former chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporate Finance, has become vice president of The SEC Institute, an organization that holds conferences and workshops around the country to explain SEC and PCAOB rules and regulations.

Cougar Mountain Software released Version 12 of its CMS Professional Accounting, Fund and Point of Sale products.