Investment Dealers Association of Canada president and CEO Joe Oliver fleshed out a few details of the proposed merger between the IDA and Market Regulation Services Inc., and discussed the prospects for the creation of a national regulator.

Speaking at the Investment Industry Association of Canada’s first annual meeting and conference in Whistler, B.C. on Tuesday, Oliver said the following regarding the proposed IDA-RS merger: “Our position is that a single national member and market self-regulator will be a real achievement in the public interest. It will strengthen self-regulation and enhance our ability to protect investors, preserve market integrity and bolster an efficient and competitive capital market. It will allow us to take advantage of synergies, deal with regulatory gaps and overlaps, reduce investor confusion, enrich policy development and bolster public confidence in the regulatory system.”

Oliver reported that a search has been launched for a CEO to run the consolidated SRO. Also, a joint steering committee is developing a detailed plan for the new organization, and four task forces are dealing with legal and regulatory issues, organizational design, human resources and finance.

It is currently expected that the IDA District Councils will retain their regulatory role and their policy input on regional issues. The new SRO’s board will likely be made up of 13 members, with an equal number of industry and independent directors, plus the CEO. There will be representation for the marketplace and the buy side, he noted.

The goal is to finalize the plan by early fall and submit it for approval to the IDA, RS and TSX boards, as well as to IDA member firms, Oliver said. “We will do a cross-country tour prior to the members’ vote to explain the details of the transaction. During the entire process we will be communicating with the CSA and then apply for regulatory approval,” he added.

Finally, Oliver discussed he prospects for regulatory reform at the provincial level. He noted that Ontario has given ground on key issues, such as head office location and governance, in an effort to get a deal on a single regulator. “There is very little more for Ontario to give, without undermining the very efficiency, flexibility and responsiveness that motivate structural change,” he suggested.

Oliver noted that the process is frustrating because the provinces have always had the ability to transform the current system without creating a national regulator, “but lack the collective will.”

“Although they contend that the passport was a major accomplishment, no one can really believe we have reached the goal post,” Oliver said. For the passport to be truly effective, he argued, “The provincial governments must move from mutual reliance to true legal delegation of decision-making authority. Until power is legislatively delegated to the principal jurisdictions, the system will break down whenever a single commission decides to impose its will, for example on a prospectus filing. Also, use of the opt-out provision would unsettle confidence in the system.

“As long as rules vary across the country, each principal jurisdiction will impose a somewhat different regime on issuers headquartered in its province. Since rules are not identical and interpretations of the same rules may also differ, the result is that investor protection will also vary across the country,” he added.

Oliver suggested that momentum is building across the country for a Canadian Securities Commission, under either provincial or federal jurisdiction. “There is growing impatience with historical anomaly, territorial tenaciousness and political inertia,” he said. “Arguments increasingly resonate about the need to enhance efficiency and competitiveness, to bolster enforcement, to present a united front internationally. There have been numerous false starts, but dare I suggest — and it may be the mountain air — that it is beginning to feel less like a matter of whether but when. If a pan-Canadian commission is finally established, commentators may be left to wonder why we didn’t achieve it much earlier, since its value is self-evident.”