Apparently some crooked financial advisers get their credentials from equally crooked organizations.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870368870457562...

If you're shopping around for a financial adviser, you might find it difficult to decipher all of the initials after his or her name. These days advisers might be CFAs (chartered financial analysts) or CFPs (certified financial planners), or hold any of more than 200 other credentials available to financial professionals.

If they bill themselves as a "certified retirement financial adviser," "certified estate adviser," "registered financial consultant," or "registered financial associate," there may be reason for skepticism. Some of the people who help run the groups that grant these and other financial credentials have been disciplined by regulators or promote controversial sales techniques, according to examinations of court records and interviews with advisers, attorneys and regulators.

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