The pursuit of more effective legal enforcement authority across Canada and taking steps to ensure dealers manage conflicts in the best interest of clients, are among the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada’s key areas of focus for 2018.
With respect to enforcement, IIROC aims to “deter wrongdoing by pursuing credible enforcement action in a timely, responsive and robust manner. To do this, it will pursue and implement additional powers, protections and tools.”
Compensation-related conflicts
In 2018, IIROC says it will enhance its compliance examinations to increase its focus on compensation-related conflicts. It will work with the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) to ensure that “IIROC’s regulatory requirements in this area are harmonized with those of the CSA, and provide additional guidance to IIROC-regulated firms on ways to address compensation-related conflicts of interest.”
“Increased collaboration and information sharing with our regulatory partners and other market participants are essential to our ability to maintain and enhance investor protection while supporting healthy Canadian capital markets,” said IIROC President and CEO Andrew J. Kriegler.
New advice and service models
Other priorities include: accommodating new advice and service models; conducting research surveys to consult investors as part of IIROC’s policy development process; beginning to implement a new market surveillance system; continuing to help IIROC-regulated firms improve their cybersecurity preparedness and finalizing the initiative to simplify IIROC’s rules in a Plain Language Rule Book.
“IIROC will continue to focus on priorities that enable us to provide more efficient and effective regulation that can adapt to changes in the investment industry and investor behaviour,” said Kriegler. “We will ensure that regulation is appropriate, proportionate and scalable, and that investors are protected no matter where they choose to engage on the growing spectrum of investment services being offered.”
For more information on IIROC’s priorities, click here.
