Edition

CPD Requirement: Compliance

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) has a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) compliance requirement for its members.

  • The SOA CPD compliance requirement has a provision that requires all SOA members to attest to compliance annually.
  • During attestation, SOA members must show they have met the SOA compliance requirement during the previous two years.

What Does it Mean to Be Compliant?

  • Compliance with the CPD requirement is an SOA membership obligation, not a qualification standard.
  • You have five ways to meet the SOA CPD requirement.
  • You can attain enough CPD credits to fulfill the terms of the provisions of Section B or meet one of four alternative compliance standards. These alternatives are built around the continuing education requirements of the qualification standards applicable for actuaries practicing in the U.S., Canada, UK or Australia).

Click on the links below for more information on the five methods that SOA members can use to fulfill the SOA CPD requirement:

  1. The Basic Requirement provisions of the SOA Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement found in Section B
  2. The continuing education requirements of the U.S. Qualification Standard
  3. The continuing education requirements of the CIA Qualification Standard
  4. The continuing education requirements of Category 1 or 2 of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries UKAP CPD Standard
  5. The continuing education requirements of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia CPD Standard

What Does it Mean to Be Non-Compliant?

Members who are not compliant failed to earn sufficient continuing education credits to be able to attest compliance, elected not to comply with the requirement or did not attest compliance.

Non-compliant SOA members:

  • May have many reasons for not meeting the SOA CPD requirement, including changes in their professional roles that make compliance with the SOA CPD requirement less meaningful.
  • Do not lose their SOA credentials and designations (ASA, CERA, FSA) because they fail to comply to the SOA CPD requirement (although they can lose their designation if they have been found to violate the terms of non-compliance).
  • Are required to tell users of their actuarial expertise of their failure to comply with the SOA CPD requirement.

SOA CPD non-compliance does not provide an indication of:

  • An individual actuary's qualifications, or lack thereof, to render actuarial opinions in the countries in which that actuary practices.
  • Their skills, expertise or other abilities to perform as a professional.

Disclosure of Compliance in the Directory of Actuarial Memberships

An SOA member's compliance status is disclosed in the Directory of Actuarial Memberships, which is openly available and searchable online. This directory helps the public understand the implications of compliance or non-compliance with the SOA CPD requirement.

What Information Does the Directory Contain?

The Directory of Actuarial Membership includes a heading on compliance status. It includes SOA CPD requirement compliance status and the CPD cycle for which the compliance status applies.

There are four possible statuses:

  • Compliant: You attested compliance with the SOA CPD requirement or you are a new SOA member and not yet required to meet the standard.
  • Non-compliant: You either attested as not compliant with the SOA CPD requirement or failed to attest compliance with the SOA CPD requirement.
  • Retired: We do not disclose CPD requirement compliance status for you unless you voluntarily attest compliance. A member is eligible for reduced dues due to retirement.
  • In Reporting: This is only used during the attestation period (November 1–February 28) to note that you have not reported compliance for the CPD cycle ending during the attestation period.
Additional compliance status information contained in the directory:
  • The attestation status shows the two-period CPD cycle for which that attestation applies, e.g. "Compliant (2009–2010)"
  • The SOA CPD requirement requires to attest compliance as of each December 31 for the two-year period ending on that date
  • You can attest for a four-month period around the compliance dates of November 1–February 28.
  • The directory displays attestation status for the compliance period just ended. So, for example, after March 1, 2011, the membership directory disclosed compliance for the 2009–2010 CPD cycle; similarly, after March 1, 2012 it showed compliance for the 2010–2011 CPD cycle.
  • During the four-month attestation period, the directory will show CPD compliance status for the period ending during the attestation period and for the last complete CPD cycle.

For more information, see the FAQs on SOA CPD Requirement Disclosure.