The Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators has released a summary of comments and responses on its voluntary proposed practice standards.

The Joint Forum said the comments ranged from the specific provisions of the initiative to big-picture issues such as the project’s overlap or conflict with regulatory requirements and jurisdiction.

The Joint Forum’s consultation package which attempts to fashion a uniform standard of fair conduct in financial transactions, regardless of product or regulator. The practice standards will be introduced as voluntary guidelines, not legal requirements. “However, we expect most industry associations and individual firms to adopt the guidelines,” the Joint Forum says. “This will benefit consumers of financial products and services by setting a minimum standard of conduct that they can expect from all participating firms, without imposing burdensome requirements on the industry.”

The objective in undertaking this project was to develop standards of professionalism and fair conduct that Canadian consumers should be able to expect in their financial transactions, regardless of the product or service being sold, or the regulatory regime that applies.

The Joint Forum (comprising the Canadian Securities Administrators, the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators and the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities) released the consultation package on March 6, 2003. The comment period closed May 29, 2003 and 17 submissions were received. Some of the principles were revised thanks to the comments. The Joint Forum Sub-committee on Practice Standards is currently overseeing the next steps in this project and will be working on the implementation issues.

As to the comments, the Joint Forum stresses that, “There is no intention to create any confusion or regulatory overlap. If any principle or practice is inconsistent with a provision of an applicable law, regulation or rule, the latter will take precedence.” And, it says that, since this is not a regulatory initiative, the issue of jurisdictional authority should not be a concern. “If banks, for example, agree with the principles that have been put forward, they could voluntarily create a code of conduct reflecting the Joint Forum’s principles and practices,’ it says.