Gregory K. Bowser of Abingdon, Md., received a CFP Board public letter of admonition for his conduct in conjunction with his capacity as chairman of a charitable organization.

Bowser, who holds a Certified Financial Planner certification, had appealed the case, originally decided by the organization’s CFP Disciplinary and Ethics Commission last summer.

He was originally admonished after he signed a consent order with the Maryland Securities Division in 2007 indicating that as chairman of the charitable group, he accepted a donation from a client, who subsequently made a loan to the unnamed charity and executed a promissory note.

Approximately a year later, another client made a loan to a business with which Bowser was affiliated. Bowser also was found to have violated the terms of a 2001 consent order issued by Maryland by continuing to sell unregistered securities and continuing to accept loans from clients. In that case, he was selling promissory notes, which Maryland found to be unregistered securities, according to the CFP Board.

The CFP commission found that Bowser’s conduct violated four rules of CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, leading to his public admonishment. Bowser lost an appeal to the CFP Board’s Appeals Committee.

This story originally appeared in the August 2009 print edition of Insurance & Financial Advisor.