The Investment Industry Association of Canada has joined forces with financial industry associations around the world to call for coordinated progress on regulatory reform at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting beginning on Friday.

Along with the Japan Securities Dealers Association, the London Investment Banking Association, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the IIAC released a statement on Thursday in advance of the meeting.

The associations applauded the finance ministers’ focus on financial repair and reform so far.

“We believe these efforts to date have set the foundation for financial stability, future economic growth and job creation,” the groups said in the statement. “To maintain momentum for global reform, the ministers rightly continue to meet and discuss regulatory reactions to the financial turmoil.”

The associations emphasized the importance of coordination between G20 countries as regulatory reforms are developed.

“It remains vital to seek a well-balanced and well-coordinated regulatory framework and guard against measures that the G20 committed to avoid – measures that would create barriers to market entry, distort competition, or encourage regulatory arbitrage,” the groups said. “We believe that the G20’s approach for coordinated and collaborative global regulatory reform could provide a strong basis for regulatory convergence and mutual recognition.”

The associations call for the finance ministers to ensure that reforms are developed in a way that promotes open markets and the free flow of capital.

“It is in this way that the global economy, as well as the consumers of financial services and products, will benefit most from the new regulatory architecture that the G20 envisages,” the associations said.

In the statement, the groups expressed concern about divergences between some recent regional and national regulatory proposals. This could result in distortions or other barriers in the global marketplace, the groups said.

“In these instances, we encourage ministers to foster, in line with the G20 mandate, the necessary changes to develop consistency with a well-founded global policy approach.”

The alliance also calls for greater transparency through the process of global financial regulatory reform.

“In light of the [Financial Stability Board’s] expanded mandate and the more direct impact of its work with market participants, we believe that finance ministers should encourage the FSB to ensure that global policy development is well informed by impact analysis and based on a transparent process and through dialogue with market participants, ensuring reasonable time for comment and discussion,” the associations said. “Many global organizations — such as IOSCO, the OECD, Basel, the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, and APEC — have all endorsed regulatory transparency.”

IE