Quebec is joining other major jurisdictions in delegating most of the dealer registration function to the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), effective July 1.
In April, most of the provincial regulators formally delegated their dealer registration functions to CIRO, as part of an effort to streamline oversight and reduce the compliance burden. Now, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is officially joining that trend.
“In addition to establishing a consistent and harmonized approach to registration, this delegation of power to CIRO will enhance efficiencies and reduce the regulatory burden by providing CIRO members with a single and centralized registration process,” said Yves Ouellet, president and CEO of the AMF, in a release.
After the transition, the self-regulatory organization will have responsibility for registering the fund dealer, investment dealer and derivatives dealer categories, along with the individual categories (rep, chief compliance officer, ultimate designated person, and permitted individual) for these firms in Quebec. (The registration of investment and derivatives dealer reps had already been delegated to CIRO, along with the financial supervision of dealers.)
“CIRO, like all other regulators, has a responsibility to deliver regulation efficiently and effectively and remove duplication. The AMF’s decision to delegate additional functions to CIRO supports our strategic objective to deliver a more effective and harmonized registration framework,” said Andrew Kriegler, president and CEO of CIRO.
The AMF will continue to have responsibility for registration in certain categories, including the fund manager, portfolio manager, exempt market dealer, restricted dealer, and scholarship plan dealer categories. And, the provincial regulator will also still be responsible for adjudicating applications for regulatory relief.
“This initiative will allow the AMF to focus on developing regulatory policy, addressing novel issues and granting discretionary exemptive relief applications,” Ouellet added.