The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) is continuing to develop its approach to vetting courses for its new continuing education (CE) program — despite a lack of industry consensus.
On Jan. 30, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) published a notice detailing the results of its consultation — which was launched last summer — on its proposed CE accreditation process.
The SRO has adopted rules introducing CE requirements. But those requirements have yet to take effect while the MFDA finalizes its approach to determining which courses will qualify for CE credit, and develops a system for tracking compliance.
According to the notice, there is “general support” for mandatory CE requirements for reps and for the MFDA’s proposed accreditation process. But the industry expressed “divergent views” on the details of the SRO’s proposals during the consultation.
For example, the notice indicates that there was no, “clear consensus of opinion regarding accreditation by the MFDA.”
As a result, the SRO is now proposing to eliminate the idea of MFDA as an accreditor. Instead, it will rely on third-party accreditors, “effectively delegating accreditation to other qualified organizations.”
These third-party accreditors will be recognized by the MFDA to assess CE activity against standards set by the SRO.
To start, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Chambre de la sécurité financière (CSF) will automatically be recognized by the MFDA to perform accreditation.
It will not recognize for-profit CE providers as accreditors, amid concerns about conflicts with them performing that task.
Other details of the proposed accreditation process are under consideration and, the MFDA said, its policy in this area will be published for comment once finalized.