A working group of provincial policymakers say they are working on legislation to allow personal incorporation of registered reps.
Late last year, the working group published a consultation paper on the incorporation issue. On Thursday, it published a summary of the responses it received on that paper, indicating that the overwhelming majority of commenters support allowing incorporation.
In that summary report, the group indicates that it will be communicating the results of the consultation to the ministers responsible for securities regulation, and is continuing to work on a proposal to allow incorporation.
“Over the coming months, the working group will continue to develop and refine its proposal for dealing with the incorporation issue, working with securities regulators, self-regulatory organizations, industry and other stakeholders, taking into account comments received,” it says. “This will involve further consultation on the details of an appropriate legislative model and draft legislation establishing a new statutory framework for that incorporation model.”
The report notes that 59 of 63 commenters strongly supported the adoption of a statutory incorporation model, although it allows that investor advocates adamantly oppose the idea.
It reports that many commenters emphasized the need for a legislative model “to include safeguards to ensure that the individual representative remains subject to liability claims from clients and responsible to the dealer for complying with securities laws and dealer compliance policies”. It also notes that commenters highlighted a number of aspects for further consideration or clarification when refining a proposed legislative framework.
Of the commenters that chose one of the options presented in the paper, the most popular was an annual permit system, it reports, which 25 commenters supported; 12 favoured one of the other two options, four chose either option one or two; and 16 expressed no preference.
IE