Susan Wolburgh Jenah, president and CEO of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), is stressing IIROC’s efforts to keep fees under control, and regulation flexible, in light of some of the current economic challenges facing the industry.
Speaking at IIROC’s annual meeting in Toronto on Tuesday, Wolburgh Jenah emphasized that the self-regulatory organization is very aware of the challenges facing the industry, and that it is dealing with this environment by “maintaining a competitive landscape for compliant firms of diverse sizes and business models, promoting consistent standards of investor protection and allowing an appropriate degree of flexibility in regulatory approach and implementation.”
To that end, she stressed IIROC’s efforts at policy prioritization, which helps minimize the growing regulatory burden by determining rule initiatives that can be deferred, or possibly addressed through alternatives.
In terms of high-profile investor protection issues, such as the debate over fiduciary duty, Wolburgh Jenah noted that it continues to attract plenty of attention, but she didn’t take a position on whether this sort of requirement is necessary.
“In the meantime, we believe that the effective implementation of the underlying principles of [the Client Relationship Model] and our focus on proficiency standards, ethics training and continuing education, will enhance industry standards and help to foster confidence in our members and in the industry generally,” she said.
She also highlighted its new integrated approach to compliance examinations, which streamlines the examination process by reviewing the financial operations and business and trading conduct of firms all at once, rather than in separate visits. IIROC conducted 12 exams this way last year, and will be expanding that in the year ahead.
Additionally, she said it’s refining its risk-based approach to compliance to make better use of its resources; and leveraging technology to enhance market surveillance.
While she didn’t directly address the issue of a mobile device that went missing earlier this year, Wolburgh Jenah did stress IIROC’s commitment to ensure the protection of confidential information, noting that it has recently adopted the ISO 27001 security standard as its benchmark.
And, she noted its efforts to keep fees from growing, and returning surpluses to its members.
“Our goal is to strike the right regulatory balance – one that protects investors while promoting fair, efficient and competitive capital markets,” she said.
The meeting also saw the re-appointment of Marianne Harris, managing director and president of corporate and investment banking at Merrill Lynch Canada, as chairwoman of IIROC’s board, and the election of independent director Mike Gagné, former president and CEO of the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, as vice chairman.
In addition, four new directors were elected at the meeting: Jean-Paul Bachellerie, president and COO of PI Financial Corp. and Sheldon Dyck, president at ATB Investor Services, as dealer directors; Gerry O’Mahoney, founder of Tralee Capital Markets Ltd., as an independent director; and Kevan Cowan, president of TSX Markets and group head of equities at TMX Group, as a marketplace director.
The new directors replace those who have finished their terms with the board: Tom Kloet, Robert Blanchard, Yves Néron and Mike Boychuk.
Also, Paul Allison, chairman and CEO of Raymond James Ltd., will officially join the board in October, Wolburgh Jenah noted.