The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) has published a consultation paper that seeks feedback on proposed new rules that would establish continuing education (CE) requirements for mutual fund dealer reps and other industry personnel.

In 2015, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) issued a discussion paper proposing the concept of mandating CE for mutual fund reps. Now, the MFDA is seeking feedback on actual rules in this area.

Implementing CE requirements for more than 80,000 mutual fund reps is a significant undertaking, the MFDA notes: “This initiative will have material operational and administrative impacts on [dealers, reps] and the MFDA.” As a result, the SRO has decided to initiate a second consultation process.

“The MFDA is engaging in this additional advance consultation with stakeholders in an effort to ensure that any requirements ultimately adopted in this area achieve the desired regulatory objectives in a manner that is as cost-effective and efficient as possible,” the SRO’s consultation paper notes.

The proposed rules would establish the number of business conduct, professional development and MFDA compliance credits that various industry personnel — including dealing reps, branch managers, chief compliance officers, and others — would be expected to achieve, along with minimum standards for reps’ CE. This includes credit requirements, content, accreditation and reporting requirements, among other things.

The proposals are out for comment until April 28. After that, the MFDA will finalize its proposed rules and run them through its regular rule development process.

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