Canada needs a national security regulator–one created by the provinces and territories–said David Brown, chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission.

Speaking at a conference on market regulation in Toronto on Tuesday, Brown said Canada is one of the few countries in the world without a national securities regulator.

Currently, the provinces and territories administer the sector. But in an era of trimming regulatory hurdles, Brown said, it doesn’t make sense to have so many different regimes across the country.

“Simply put, there is no justification for imposing on our markets the cost of supporting a multitude of regulators and regulatory bureaucracies,” he said in prepared comments for the conference.

“Each of the provinces and territories regulate securities. That adds up to 13 separate regulators, 13 different approaches to investor protection and 13 different requirements for financial disclosure. Thirteen different standards for qualifications for intermediaries,” said Brown. But he also added that such a regulator need not be a federal body, pointing out that the provincial and territorial securities regulators already possess the expertise in the area.

“With our constitutional distribution of powers, and regional sensitivities, it would make more sense for the provincial governments to take the lead, with Ottawa’s cooperation and participation,” Brown said.

“The logical result would be a Pan-Canadian commission, created by the provinces and the territories. Responsibility for administering securities laws would be delegated by each to the Pan-Canadian commission.”

Doug Hyndman, the chairman of the British Columbia Securities Commission, echoed Brown’s opinion that the current regulatory burden on stock markets is too heavy.

Hyndman said the BCSC is launching a two-year program to cut down on the number of rules in force on markets.

“Our deregulation team will examine all of our current requirements and assess the need for each one,” Hyndman said.

The BCSC wants to have a new set of rules ready to be in force by the end of 2003.

Hyndman also said his commission will cooperate on the development of a national uniform securities act and rules. However, he stopped short of calling for a national body to govern the industry.