The Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators is continuing to attempt to map out a harmonized approach to consumer dispute resolution.

“At this stage, it would be premature to try to describe what an appropriate model might look like, since the mandate of the Task Force is complex. To date, Task Force members have probed the many issues related to consumer complaint management and dispute resolution in the financial services sector, and examined the various services currently in existence. They have also developed principles to underpin the assessment of existing
and new processes. Future discussions will explore the feasibility of a collaborative framework that would make the same standard of dispute resolution service available to all financial services consumers,” says the Joint Forum. It made the statement in a recently published newsletter.

The Joint Forum Task Force on Consumer Dispute Resolution held its third meeting on June 4, in Toronto. Harold MacKay, who chaired the Task Force on the Future of the Canadian Financial Services Sector has been retained as a special advisor to the Task Force. The Task Force is chaired by Doug Hyndman, chair of the CSA and Chair of the B.C. Securities Commission.

As the work of the Task Force progresses, a Consumer Consultation Group will be established, to secure the views of consumer and public interest groups, and an Industry Consultation Group will also be struck. It has also launched a major piece of research to survey and analyze the services currently available to financial services consumers, in an effort to understand the gaps, duplications, and the extent to which levels of service vary.

The Joint Forum’s efforts to deal with capital accumulation plans — coordinating and harmonizing the treatment of CAPs to give similar protection to investors in these products was also examined in the newsletter. Currently, the regulation of CAPs is not harmonized across jurisdictions.

The Insurance Regulators Sub-committee will be working though the issues raised by sales incentives and practices in the distribution of segregated funds, reports the newsletter. It will coordinate its efforts with the Securities Sub-committee. It will also look to co-ordinate work on fund governance between the insurance and securities industries.

The forum is seeking to harmonize and coordinate the laws and regulatory structures governing the licensing and proficiency of those involved in the distribution of all financial products. Current efforts are focussed on developing a common code of conduct, or standard of practice, for all financial services intermediaries, regardless of how they are regulated or what products they sell.