BS ISO22222 Certification – Guide for candidates

About BS ISO22222 Certification..................................................................2

Benefits ........................................................................................................2
Certification process & procedures .............................................................3
Pre-requisite knowledge...............................................................................3
Certification standards..................................................................................3
Assessment process ....................................................................................4
Certification fee ............................................................................................6
Suspension/withdrawal of certification..........................................................6
Cancellation..................................................................................................7
What happens if I don’t pass? ......................................................................7
Appeals ........................................................................................................8
Complaints ...................................................................................................8
Appendix One – Appeals...............................................................................9
Grounds for an appeal ..............................................................................9
Circumstances not accepted as grounds for an appeal ............................9
Appeal fee.................................................................................................9
Appeals Procedure.....................................................................................9
The Impartiality Committee .....................................................................10
The review ..............................................................................................10
Appeal review options.............................................................................10
The Outcome ..........................................................................................11
About BS ISO22222 Certification
BS ISO22222 Certification confirms a financial planner’s conformity to the
international ISO financial planning standards. The Certification demonstrates
that your advice and skills have been benchmarked against the international
standard; this helps you to demonstrate the quality of your financial planning
knowledge & advice skills. BS ISO22222 assists in codifying best practice for
financial advice.

Please note that BS ISO22222 Certification does not confer an authorised

status or replace any element or requirement of the Financial Services
Authority (FSA) regulation or other regulatory body in the UK or the advisor’s
home country.

Benefits

There are numerous benefits of achieving BS ISO2222 to both you and your
business. These include:

¾ Demonstrating that your advice skills & knowledge have been

benchmarked against an international standard
¾ Receiving independent validation of your skills
¾ Receiving developmental feedback from highly qualified assessors
¾ BS ISO22222 Certification assists in enhancing customer confidence in
you and your business

In addition, some Financial Planners may be able to gain an exemption from

CII examination unit AF5 – Financial Planning Process.

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Certification process & procedures

Pre-requisite knowledge

The current entry requirement, as stated by BSI in the BS9222 Guidance

document for the BS ISO2222 standards, is at Level 8 in the Scottish
Qualifications Framework. This is equivalent to Level 4 in the National
Qualifications Framework and is where the CII Diploma in Financial Planning
has been benchmarked. Applicants should therefore have completed the
Diploma in Financial Planning or equivalent prior to applying (please note this
may be through completion of modules from different examining bodies; if you
are unsure whether your combined learning meets the requirements please
contact Certification Services for confirmation).

The BS ISO22222 standards require the Financial Planner to demonstrate

that they are providing comprehensive advice across all areas i.e. IHT
planning, retirement planning, protection & investment. It is strongly
recommended that applicants review the Certification standards to ensure
they will be able to demonstrate compliance with these standards.

Certification standards

Full details of the BS ISO22222 standards can be purchased from BSI.

Please follow the link below to access the standards:

http://www.cii.co.uk/pages/as/ISO22222.aspx

A summary of the standards are provided below:

The standard defines six steps of the personal financial planning process:

1. Establishing and defining the client and personal financial planner

relationship.
2. Gathering client data and determining goals and expectations.
3. Analysing and evaluating the client's financial status.
4. Developing and presenting the financial plan.
5. Implementing the financial planning recommendations.
6. Monitoring the financial plan and the financial planning relationship.

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Assessment process

The application form for BS ISO22222 certification is available from CII

Certification Services – accreditation@cii.co.uk

A CII assessor will complete a face to face assessment with you at your
normal place of work. Full details of the assessment process are provided
below.

Step 1 – You are required to complete the BS ISO22222 application form and
to supply the information requested; this includes, performance measures
(KPIs) and a list of cases written over the past 3 years which cover protection,
investment, estate planning and pension planning cases written.

Performance indicators
Where you have centrally produced Key Performance Indicators these should be
submitted with your application form. For applicants who do not have this information
produced as a matter of course performance statistics should be collated in order to
support your application. The BS ISO22222 standards require evidence to
demonstrate persistency, spread of business, complaints, implementation (how many
clients take the advice provided), repeat business and compliance. Further details
may be found in the BS9222:2007 guidance document.

Step 2 – The application will be reviewed by CII Certification Services to

ensure all the necessary information has been supplied. If further information
is required the application will be returned to you with information regarding
the omissions; the initial application review fee is not refunded.

Step 3 – CII Certification Services will appoint an assessor to complete the

assessment and will liaise with the both the assessor and you to agree a
suitable assessment date.

Step 4 – The CII appointed assessor will visit you at your normal place of
work. The assessment visit will take place on one day and whilst the audit
may not take the whole day to complete you are advised to ensure that you
are free for the whole day to enable the assessor to gather all the evidence
required. The assessor will be evaluating your skills and knowledge in order
to gather the evidence to demonstrate achievement of the BS ISO22222
standards.

Where it is not appropriate to conduct an assessment at your normal place of

work e.g. where you work from home or where there are no private meeting
rooms, with prior notification the CII will liaise with you to agree a suitable
alternative location. Please note it will be your responsibility to meet any
additional costs incurred in securing an alternative assessment location.

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 Knowledge requirements
You are encouraged to self-assess your technical knowledge prior to the assessment
day; reference to the relevant examination syllabuses on the CII website may be made
e.g. J01 – Personal tax, J04 – Pension funding options. Regulatory updates from the
PFS & FSA may also be of assistance.

Assessment visit (audit)

During the assessment visit the assessor will review a minimum of three client files; you
are therefore advised to ensure that you will be able to access the client files listed in
your application form. The files will be selected on a random basis and will cover all
areas of financial planning. The assessor will conduct a structured interview with you
regarding these files to ascertain what skills and knowledge were required (and
demonstrated) to complete the advice process. Where it is not practical to access client
files at short notice e.g. where they are stored electronically with prior notification the CII
will liaise with the assessor to provide you with additional time to download the required
information.

In addition, you will be asked to role play certain scenarios e.g. introducing the fact find
meeting. During the role plays you will be assessed against the BS ISO22222 standards
relating to the area of advice covered; you will also be expected to complete the role play
compliantly i.e. in line with any FSA Conduct of Business rules.

You are advised to consider how best to clearly explain complex issues. As the
assessment will be structured the assessor will ask probing questions to gather the
required evidence of your knowledge & skills.

The assessor may also ask you to work through calculations e.g. tax calculations. This
will allow you to demonstrate your understanding of the rules relating to the area covered
and also your ability to apply the methodology appropriately. You will be able to use any
resource you would normally use in a client facing situation e.g. calculator, tax guides;
this may also include a summary of the calculation to be completed although you will
need to demonstrate your understanding of the process and be able to explain the
process, in your own words, to the assessor in order to successfully demonstrate that
you have the required skills and knowledge.
The assessment will be structured and time constrained. You are strongly advised not to
provide ancillary information during the assessment (unless requested by the assessor)
as this will not be an effective use of time and will not allow appropriate evidence to be
collected.

Step 5 – Evidence gathered will be benchmarked against the BS ISO22222

certification standards.

Step 6 – You will be informed of the certification decision.

Step 7 – Successful applicants will be subject to annual monitoring to ensure

they continue to meet the required standards. At the end of the certification
period which is 5 years, these applicants will be required to be recertified.
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 Data protection

The CII will require access to your client files. CII adheres to the Data Protection Act and
are registered data handlers. Further details of the DPA & CII registration can be found
at www.cii.co.uk/cii/about/re/pro_obligations/data_protection.aspx
You should ensure that your DPA registration permits disclosure of information to the CII.
Suitable recipient references may include:
R404:Education & training establishments and examining bodies
R405 Business associates & other professional advisers
R408: Suppliers & providers of goods or services
R410: Financial organisations and advisors
R415: Trade, employer associations and professional bodies

Certification fee

The certification fee information can be found on the CII website –

www.cii.co.uk/accreditation or by calling CII Customer Services on 020 8989
8464.

The Certification fee includes an application fee which is non refundable

should your application be declined prior to the assessment day e.g. should
you not meet the qualification entry requirements.

The fee also includes the assessment fee and this covers the assessment
audit which is a face to face assessment with a CII assessor.

CII assessor’s travel fee will invoiced to you separately and you will be
advised of these costs prior to the assessment audit.

Suspension/withdrawal of certification

BS ISO22222 Certification may be suspended for the following reasons.

Certified individual:
¾ Not currently working in the industry e.g. due to illness, sabbatical,
maternity leave, unemployment
¾ Not supplying the necessary information to complete the annual
surveillance
¾ Misusing the CII Accreditation logo e.g. use of the logo on prohibited
materials - rectification required

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¾ Subject to CII Disciplinary proceedings – suspension until outcome of
proceedings completed (minor breach)
¾ Non-payment of Certification fees

BS ISO22222 Certification may be withdrawn for the following reasons.

Certified individual:
¾ Continuing to misuse the CII Accreditation logo – no rectification steps
taken
¾ Misrepresenting their Certified status
¾ CII Disciplinary proceedings finding against them
¾ Commits major breach of CII Code of Ethics & Conduct (Disciplinary
proceedings are instigated)
¾ Continues to fail to supply necessary information to complete the annual
surveillance – more than one month has passed since the annual
surveillance was due
¾ Continued non-payment of Certification fees – more than one month has
passed since the annual surveillance was due
¾ Is involved in criminal activity & is subject to criminal proceedings
¾ No longer working in the industry e.g. retirement, change of occupation,
death

On withdrawal of Certification certificates are to be returned.

Cancellation

Any individual or company shall be entitled to resign the certification on giving

written notice to the CII. There is no entitlement to a refund of the Certification
fees paid. The Certification certificate must be returned to the CII.

What happens if I don’t pass?

Where a candidate does not meet the required standards they will be required
to restart the assessment process.

An extra fee will be payable of between £125 and £575. This fee will be
dependant on the scope of the work involved, for example, whether a repeat

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site visit is required. CII will communicate this fee to the applicant in advance
of the review work.

Appeals

Any applicant whose Certification application has been declined, may present
an appeal to the Impartiality Committee.

The Impartiality Committee is the independent committee responsible for

ensuring the impartiality of the Certification Services operation and are
authorised to resolve any Certification appeals on behalf of the CII. All
members are independent of the CII and will review your case on an impartial
basis.

Should you wish to appeal a Certification decision you should refer to

Appendix one for further details on the appeals process.

Complaints

Should you have any complaints regarding CII Certification please contact the
CII Customer Services to register your complaint at:

Customer Complaints
42 – 48 High Road
South Woodford
London
E18 2JP

Tel: 020 8989 8464

email: customer.serv@cii.co.uk

We endeavour to acknowledge all complaints within two working days and to

respond in full within five working days. If this is not possible we endeavour to
keep customers informed of the progress of their enquiry on a regular basis.

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Appendix One – Appeals

Grounds for an appeal

There are two main grounds for appeal:

1. Extenuating circumstances that were not revealed for valid reasons

prior to receipt of the Certification decision

2. Evidence to support that there has been a misinterpretation of the

information provided to CII

Circumstances not accepted as grounds for an appeal

a) Claims of being unaware of, or not understanding the Certification

standards and requirements

b) An appeal against a decision made by the CII Disciplinary Committee.

Full details of the CII’s disciplinary procedures are contained in the Bye-laws
and Board Regulations.

Appeal fee

An appeal fee of £69 is payable on submission of an appeal; this fee is

refundable in the event that the Impartiality Committee finds in favour of the
appellanta.

Should the Impartiality Committee request that a stage of the Certification

review process is repeated in light of the evidence submitted by the appellant
the CII reserves the right to pass on the administration fee to the appellant
e.g. should a further observation or face to face assessment be required due
to extenuating circumstances which were not previously disclosed, the CII
reserves the right to charge the appellant for this stage of the review; full fee
details will be available to appellants.

Appeals Procedure

A written appeal case must be submitted to the Director/Manager of

Certification Services no later than thirty days from the Certification decision
notification. All applications will be acknowledged within five days of receipt.

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In very exceptional circumstances, the time limit may be extended by the
Chair of the Impartiality Committee.

The appeal case and appellant file will be submitted to the Chair of the
Impartiality Committee who will review the relevant documentary information.
If it is decided there is a case to hear, it will be referred to the full Impartiality
Committee for review and the appellanta will be advised of the date of this
review.

If it is considered that there is no prima facie caseb, the appellant will be

informed within three weeks of the date of submission.

The Impartiality Committee

If it is agreed that there is a prima facie case, the Impartiality Committee will
review the evidence.

The review
The Impartiality Committee will consider the appeal in the light of written
evidence presented; this may be via email/web/telephone or in person.

It should be noted that the Appeal Procedure is an internal administrative

procedure for reviewing candidate Certification decisions and it is not a formal
legal procedure.

Appellants will be expected to pay their own costs incurred in preparing their
appeal e.g. doctors reports etc.

Appeal review options

The Impartiality Committee may determine that a specific stage of the

Certification review process should be repeated to enable the applicant to be
fairly assessed in light of the evidence they have submitted to support their
appeal. Where only a partial reassessment against the standards is judged to
be necessary an administration fee may be payable to cover the costs
associated with this review.

Where an appeal is declined the appellant must return to stage one of the
Certification process and a full Certification fee is payable.

Where an appeal is upheld the appeal fee is returned in full.

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The Outcome

The appellant will be informed of the outcome of the review by the Chair of
the Impartiality Committee (or a nominated representative) within ten working
days of the decision.

Where the appeal is rejected, the Chair of the impartiality Committee will
inform the candidate of the reasons for the decision.

This will be the end of the appeal process regardless of whether there are
further circumstances cited subsequently by the appellant.

All details will be treated in a confidential manner, disclosed only to those

individuals involved in the appeal process or cited by you as someone who
can substantiate your claims. We will seek your permission should we need to
disclose details to any other individual or party as part of the consideration of
your appeal.

Notes
1.
Quality assurance arrangements are in place to monitor the
performance of assessors to ensure accuracy, consistency and
independence. Assessment criteria, including mark schemes where
relevant, are provided to ensure valid and consistent assessment and
exemplary work is provided.
2.
The CII employs and trains individuals who have appropriate expertise
to undertake monitoring and examining work to ensure they have a
common understanding of the standards. These individuals follow the
procedures laid down by the regulatory authorities and adhere to a
code of conduct.
3.
The Disciplinary Committee has its own appeal procedure. Please
refer to the Board Regulations.

Glossary of terms

a. Appellant: the party appealing a decision.

b. Prima-facie case: a case which presents evidence that at first sight
appears to warrant further consideration.

Any candidate whose Certification application has been declined may present
an appeal to the CII.

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The first stage of the process is for the applicant to submit a document
outlining their appeal to the CII.
The appeal will be reviewed by an independent committee and the appeal
decision will be reported to the applicant within 5 working days of the
committee meeting.

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