The elevation of securities industry veteran Joe Oliver to the position of federal finance minister can only be considered good news for investment firms, but the financial services industry should probably curb its enthusiasm.

As a former investment banker, regulator, and industry lobbyist, Oliver has a deep understanding of, and sympathy for, capital markets. That is unambiguously a good thing for the industry. It means that the country’s top finance official knows the importance of healthy markets to overall economic growth, understands the issues that companies face raising capital and the challenges of investors. So, when it comes to policymaking, the conversation can start at a different place compared with bureaucrats from other backgrounds who first have to be convinced of the market’s merits.

However, this doesn’t mean that the securities industry should expect the financial landscape to start flowing with milk and honey. For one, Oliver is constrained by the government’s desire to fulfill its promise for a balanced budget in 2015, in time for the next election. That likely limits his latitude to make any dramatic policy shifts over the coming year. Moreover, the economy isn’t exactly roaring, so there isn’t going to be a lot of wiggle room in the budget thanks to stellar economic growth.

On files where Oliver’s expertise would be particularly relevant, and where the fiscal situation isn’t much of a factor – most obviously, national securities regulation – the impediment to success isn’t a lack of federal knowledge, it’s the traditional resistance of the provinces to Ottawa’s plans in this area. That’s nothing new, and it doesn’t change with his arrival at finance. Indeed, even as head of the former Investment Dealers Association of Canada (IDA), Oliver was a realist about the prospect of national regulation. His presence alone doesn’t make a national regulator any more likely than it was before.

So, although the industry should surely be pleased with Oliver’s appointment, it must also recognize that it hasn’t just been given the keys to the kingdom.

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