The Investment Dealers Association of Canada produced a $2.86 million surplus in fiscal 2004, according to its recently released annual report. That’s up from $1.47 million a year ago.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004, the IDA’s revenues rose to $39.93 million, up from $36.98 million a year ago.

The bulk of revenues — $29.1 million — came from member’s fees. Membership fees last year were $28.30 million in part due to a special reduction of $2 million.

Registration and underwriting levies also rose in fiscal 2004, to $2.5 million and $7.6 million respectively.

Overall expenses crept up a bit to $37.40 million from $35.63 million in fiscal 2003. Regulatory activities remain the biggest component at $24 million, up from $22.3 million last year. Spending on the trade association function slipped to just under $4.2 million, down from $4.35 million. However, the cost for the second biggest line item, finance and administration, rose a little to $7.86 million from $7.54 million.

The IDA’s discretionary fund saw a sharp drop in investigation fines from $1.4 million in 2003 to just over $600,000 in 2004. Continuing education fines also dropped notably, while late filing fines were more or less stable.

Spending on special projects also dropped. Expenditures on the National Registration Database went from $1.37 million in 2003 to just $212,000 in 2004. However, spending on the straight-through-processing initiative championed by the Canadian Capital Markets Association increased to $239,421.

As for its regulatory performance, the IDA reports that it levied fines of totaling $2,875,904 in fiscal 2004. Just $211,654 in fines were levied against firms, while $2,664,250 was charged against individuals. Investigators assessed 1,530 complaints in the fiscal year.

The IDA issued 53 disciplinary decisions during the year, which resulted in the termination of one firm’s membership, 10 permanent bars against individuals, 39 warning letters, and three individual registration suspensions.

Looking ahead, the IDA says it will continue to advocate for additional enforcement powers. As well, it will continue studying implementation of the trade reporting and electronic order and trade record keeping requirements.

Other issues getting attention include the move to straight-through processing, and the implementation of the B.C. model, which replaces detailed member rules with a Code of Conduct.