The Quebec group for financial services professionals, the Corporation des professionnels en services financiers (CDPSF), came into being last Thursday. It owes its existence to the fact that the regional sections of the provincial insurance regulator, the Chambre de la sécurité financière (CSF), are gaining their independence from the self-regulatory organization. Now only the approval of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is required before the transition becomes legally valid.

The official departure of the CSF’s regional sections took place on June 5 at the organization’s annual general meeting at Mont Saint-Sauveur. Earlier this year, the CSF and the CDPSF signed a memorandum of understanding in which the CSF agreed to provide funding for the CDPSF's activities for a period of three years. The funding aims, among other things, to allow the regional sections to continue providing local training and networking activities. The CDPSF is also supposed to be able to generate its own revenue by acquiring tools that will enable it to offer other services to its members.

The signing of the memorandum by the twenty regional sections is only a formality, as each one has already sent a resolution to the CSF board of directors. However, the AMF still needs to approve the process.

The CDPSF was formed with 124 founding members. Chaired by Alain Roy, President of the Estrie region, the CDPSF used the occasion to establish its rules and regulations and appoint its board of directors, composed of the following eleven members: Lorraine Beaumier, Marcel Cabana, Sylvain Croft, Christian Émond, Mario Grégoire, Yves Guillot, Simon Loubier, Josée Michaud, Gilles Pellerin, Louis-Roger Valiquette, and Christiane Van Bolhuis.

The CDPSF regulations allow it to offer two categories of membership, namely voting and non-voting. "The non-voting members are from other professional backgrounds or other provinces, and they may be individuals or legal entities," explained Mario Grégoire, senior consultant at the CDPSF. This means that associations such as Advocis or the Regroupement des cabinets de courtage d'assurances du Québec (RCCAQ) could become members. Real estate brokers or general insurance brokers would also be able to join.

In addition, the CDPSF board may include up to four non-voting members. Allowing members from outside the profession seats on the board raised questions from some of the delegates during the question period. Some were concerned the board could be slanted in favour of those with divergent interests from those in the profession. Others, however, welcomed this outward-looking spirit, suggesting it might lead to collaboration with other professional groups.