The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has granted relief to Toronto-based Invesco Canada Ltd. from a provision of the mutual fund sales practices rule to allow the company to finance educational events for financial advisors hosted by the Montreal-based Professional Association of Financial Services Advisors (PAFSA).
“The PAFSA will be applying to self-regulatory organizations to have events count as continuing education credits,” according to a decision published in Thursday’s OSC Bulletin.
The OSC granted the relief subject to the conditions that generally apply to mutual fund companies sponsoring events hosted by lobbyists under an exemption in the sales practices rule for established groups, such as the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC). That exemption sets limits on the content of these events, their location and the amounting of financing that each fund company can provide.
As such, Invesco has been allowed to finance events the PAFSA is hosting to educate advisors about issues such as industry regulation and mutual fund issues, generally.
The OSC’s decision notes that almost 1,000 advisors (more than 90% of whom have a mutual fund licence) belong to the PAFSA, which has been registered as a lobbyist in Quebec since 2006.