MFDA urges members to weigh in on SRO reform

The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) is calling on fund dealers and others to get involved in a pair of ongoing consultations on the future of self-regulation for the investment business.

In a notice to its members, the MFDA highlighted the recommendations of the Soliman report — issued by an Ontario government task force — which calls for the adoption of a single self-regulatory organization (SRO) for all registered firms, enhanced SRO governance and intensified oversight from the Ontario Securities Commission.

The deadline for submissions on the report’s recommendations is Sept 7.

At the same time, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has launched its own consultation on the SRO framework, which doesn’t specify a particular model of self-regulation but instead calls for input on how best to address a variety of shortcomings with the existing system. These include regulatory overlap, inefficiency, structural inflexibility and investor confusion.

That consultation runs until Oct. 23.

In February, the MFDA set out its proposed vision for SRO reform, which features a single new SRO for all registered firms, and spinning off market regulation into a separate body.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has since laid out a competing vision in its own reform proposal, which focuses on the benefits of merging IIROC and the MFDA.

The MFDA said on Wednesday that many of the recommendations in its proposal align with those of the Soliman report, as well as the CSA’s underlying reform objectives.

It pledged to continue working with the CSA and government policymakers to develop “a new single modern and forward-looking SRO framework for Canada that benefits all stakeholders and is guided by our public interest mandate.”

At the same time, it called on fund dealers and others “to participate in these important consultations.”

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.