Regulatory flexibility has enabled industry to meet clients virtually

COVID-19 accelerated trends in the industry and forced many to come up with new ways of doing things while still adhering to regulations like the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules under the Criminal Code and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.

Experts gathered for the virtual 2020 Advocis Regulatory Affairs Symposium say discovering that it was possible to meet with clients virtually and still be aboveboard with the AML requirements was one major win for an industry working hard to meet client expectations during a time when face-to-face meetings simply were not possible.

“FINTRAC (the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) and OSFI (the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions) have always had the flexibility within the AML guidance to allow for a non-face-to-face customer onboarding experience. We have not had to utilize that. We have always been paper-based, face-to-face. Even on the bank side, we really have not had to utilize that non-face-to-face flexibility,” says Richard Hogeveen, vice president and chief compliance officer with Manulife. “What COVID provided was that immediate urgency to do that. Fairly early on and quickly, the industry galvanized and identified with that regulatory flexibility. We quickly revised our onboarding processes to allow customers to meet with their advisors.”

“I expect, even as we return to normal, that more and more customers will realize and decide that non-face-to-face virtual meetings are something they want to continue.” - Richard Hogeveen

He says allowing advisors to do customer identification through virtual means and realizing that such processes met the requirements set out in the AML regulations, “I think, was a real win for the industry. I expect, even as we return to normal, that more and more customers will realize and decide that non-face-to-face virtual meetings are something they want to continue.”

“I do not want to downplay the importance of those new digital methods,” he adds. “We have given our advisors and distribution partners that ability to onboard and identify a customer using that means. I think that is a real benefit for all stakeholders in the industry.”