A long-running project to develop a “plain language” version of the rules governing investment dealers may finally becoming to a close with the publication of a consolidated edition of the proposed new rules.
The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) on Thursday published the full version of its proposed plain language rule book for public comment.
The project to rewrite and rationalize the rulebook began back in 2010 with the publication of various tranches of the rules in plain language.
Among other things, the project aims to: streamline the rules; eliminate obsolete, or unnecessary, requirements; and improve the clarity of the rules overall.
“The primary objective of the [project] is to develop rules that are organized, clearer and more concise, without changing the substance of the [rules] themselves,” the self-regulatory organization says in a notice.
Dealers “will benefit from the enhanced clarity and certainty” of the proposed new rule book. IIROC acknowledges that there will be costs to adopting the new rules, particularly on the institutional side, but says it “will take that into account in the implementation phase.”
The proposed new rule book is out for a 120-day comment period, ending July 8.