The Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) is planning to introduce continuing education (CE) requirements for fund salespeople and other approved persons. It has published a discussion paper on the subject and is asking for comments from dealer members, advisors, and other interested parties.

On June 22, the MFDA published a discussion paper that considers not only the possible components of a CE program, which would cover topics such as compliance, general knowledge, and ethical behaviour, but also how many CE credits should be required each year, and how these credits should be tracked. For example, the MFDA notes that Quebec's Chambre de la Sécurité Financière requires an average of 15 CE credits per year, while Advocis requires 30 credits annually.

"We would like feedback on whether the MFDA should provide a system for tracking individual CE credits and reporting compliance. If the MFDA does not provide a tracking system, but instead provides only a mechanism to report on CE compliance, Members would be responsible for developing their own tracking and reporting system," reads one section of the paper. "One potential advantage of having an MFDA system that would track and report CE compliance for each individual is that it would allow for easier administration where an individual transfers to a new dealer. CE credits for the individual would already be tracked in the MFDA system. There also may be opportunities to provide access to third party CE providers to automatically update the MFDA system reducing the administrative burden on Members."

The paper can be downloaded from the MFDA web site. Those interested in submitting comments are requested to do so in writing on or before September 21, 2015.