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© Copyright 2000 Rogers Media. The following article first appeared in the May 2000 edition of
BENEFITS CANADA magazine.
A regulatory view
The Joint Forum has made good progress but still has much to do.
By Dina Palozzi
The following is excerpted from a speech given by Dina Palozzi, chief executive officer and superintendent
of financial services at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, marking the one-year anniversary of
the creation of the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators.
The establishment of the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators, in my view, was a bold, creative move
by Canada's three long-established organizations of financial regulators--the Canadian Association of
Pension Supervisory Authorities, the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators and the Canadian Securities
Administrators.
While each of us may express our mission as regulators in somewhat different terms, we're all pursuing two
overriding goals: to protect the interests of consumers and investors, and to do this while supporting a
dynamic, internationally competitive financial services industry and marketplace.
We have now reached a juncture in the industry's evolution where this vision can best be achieved by what
might be called collaborative regulation.
The financial services industry plays a pivotal role in the modern economy. Capital markets bring investors
and opportunities together. What Peter Drucker calls pension fund capitalism represents a fundamental shift
in the financial foundations of industrialized countries. Wealth management is the path to financial
security for an aging generation of baby boomers. And insurance remains crucial to the financial well-being
of families and the financial stability of organizations, public and private.
In short, there's a lot riding on our efforts. The Joint Forum gives us a venue to communicate with one
another--to learn from each other--and then take action together.
We've made good progress in the past year in meeting the challenge we set for ourselves: to eliminate gaps
in consumer protection and to co-ordinate and streamline the regulation of products and services in
Canadian financial markets. In our first year, for example, we've adopted concrete recommendations for
harmonizing the regulation of mutual funds and segregated funds. And we now have an action plan to carry
out these changes to provide consumers with similar protection for both types of investment products. Work
is underway on national investment disclosure standards in defined contribution pension plans and other
retirement savings arrangements--to help individuals make sound investment decisions.
We're getting started on a long-term project on intermediary proficiency and licensing to protect consumers
who find it increasingly difficult to distinguish one financial product from another, or to understand what
type of financial services intermediaries they are dealing with.
We've encouraged the creation of uniform proficiency requirements for intermediaries holding themselves out
as financial planners, again addressing a major consumer protection issue.
Some would say the current regulatory structure in Canada isn't very elegant. And in fact it's easier to
imagine a tidier model. The problem is getting there in the vast, diverse country we live in.
It's my own view that with good will and co-operation, we can work together in a way that is good for
consumers, the industry and the overall public interest. Together, we can build a comprehensive regulatory
safety net that delivers the protection consumers need and fosters the positive climate that's so essential
for the industry's growth.
Dina Palozzi is the chair of the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators.
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