After the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) announced January 23 that it had approved the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) as a credentialing body under Ontario’s Financial Professionals Title Protection Act, 2019 (FPTPA) an industry association is taking the opportunity to voice frustration about a framework they say is redundant.

“The FPTPA and its related framework remains redundant and brings pointless administration for those professionals licensed through the OSC (Ontario Securities Commission), or CIRO,” the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) states in a recent note entitled, THREE IS A CROWD … OSC, CIRO … AND FSRA. 

“Through FSRA, the OSC and CIRO’s deal seeks to minimize the impact of a bad situation, it doesn’t eliminate regulatory duplication,” they add. “Receiving a FSRA accreditation through CIRO tries to justify too many regulators in the same space.” They add that FSRA’s commitment to review the framework by March 31, 2024 is welcome, “but three is a crowd: FSRA is not needed to evaluate CIROs proficiency standards, complaint handling or disciplinary practices. The clear need is (for) exemptions, which are long overdue.”