Outgoing chair of the Investment Dealers Association, Terry Salman, defended the IDA’s self-regulatory role in a speech to open the conference in St. Andrew’s-by-the-Sea, N.B. on Monday.

Salman said that critics have claimed that self-regulation can’t work because it is inherently conflicted. However, he argued that because the IDA has the dual roles of regulator and advocate, its first priority is to act in the public interest. “Our two primary responsibilities are to regulate member firms and to act in an advocacy role as it relates to the capital markets. This is our full mandate… and this is the part that critics often miss. It is because of our self-regulatory role that the IDA must operate to place the interests of the public first.”

Salman argued that the IDA advocates on issues such as regulatory reform, disclosure and fair dealing with the public interest in mind. “If we were to only advocate positions that benefited securities dealers at the expense of the public — these groups would expose our narrow and self-destructive interest in a heartbeat,” he said, referring to other regulators and government.

He also argued that securities dealers are, by and large, operating ethically. He noted that 35,000 securities transactions took place in Canada last year. The IDA received 1,100 complaints and commenced 250 investigations as a result.

Salman said that his outgoing message to IDA members is that are the “self” in self-regulation. “As the IDA plays a critical role in the future of the securities industry — your industry — you are important and necessary.”

He said that regulators need to work together more effectively, to articulate common agendas and build a regulatory system that works for all Canadians.

As for the public, he indicated that the IDA’s future depends on how effective the association is in dealing with “your concerns and issues”.