William Nelson

William Nelson currently serves as Assistant General Counsel for the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. William is responsible for assisting with the development of standards, including CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, Sanctions Guidelines, Fitness Standards, and Procedural Rules; assisting with the development of guidance materials concerning CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, including formal guidance materials and responses to individual requests for guidance; providing assistance with the adjudication of alleged violations of the Code and Standards; and providing assistance with corporate governance matters.

Prior to joining CFP Board, William served as Chief Compliance Officer for Mercer Advisors, an SEC-registered Investment Adviser. William served as an executive officer providing legal and regulatory guidance on all issues related to SEC, FINRA, and DOL rules and regulations including the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Securities Act of 1933, as well as other state and Federal regulations and securities laws. William also served as the Legal Advisor to Mercer Advisors' Investment Committee and ERISA Committee.

Prior to joining Mercer Advisors, he served as the Public Policy Counsel for CFP Board. William drafted Amicus briefs in the Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary cases in the Northern District of Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and drafted several regulatory comment letters submitted to the DOL and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in support of investor protection issues. For seven years, he also served as an Adjunct Professor at the George Washington University Law School where he taught Legal Research and Writing and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law where he teaches Securities Law. William has been published in several scholarly law journals across the country and his work has been cited in legal treatises and state and federal court decisions.

William received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tulsa, his Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree, with Honors, from the University of Tulsa College of Law and his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from the George Washington University Law School.