Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. (TSX:IAG) favours a consensus-building approach to regulating the Canadian financial services sector, the company said Tuesday.

The Quebec-based life and health insurer outlined its position on the federal government’s initiative to create a national securities commission.

In a statement, Industrial Alliance said it “believes that the Canadian financial services sector is well-served by the current regulatory framework, including by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) for institutions in Quebec.”

The company said it “encourages the regulatory authorities to continue working together to further harmonize laws and regulations that govern the financial markets.”

“We don’t want to see a confrontation on this critical subject for the future of our economies,” said Yvon Charest, president and CEO.

“We favour dialogue and consensus-building to achieve an optimal, harmonized supervision of the financial system which will satisfy all economic players,” he added.

Noting that the criminal code is under federal jurisdiction, Industrial Alliance said Ottawa has an important role to play in deterring financial crime by reinforcing criminal proceedings and by becoming more actively involved in investigations into economic crimes.

“The current priority is not to modify structures, which are working relatively well, but to improve laws and invest more resources to better protect Canadians against economic crimes,” Charest said.

IE