(May 12 – 17:00 ET) – The Investment Dealers Association has approved the final part of the new policy consolidating proficiency requirements.
The IDA’s board has approved part I of policy No. 6. Part II took effect on December 13, 1999, and part III took effect January 1, 2000. Part I consolidates the proficiency requirements across numerous registration categories and updates the requirements.
Changes are as follows. Branch Managers and sales managers must now have at least two years of experience as a securities dealer, working in the office of a broker-dealer or “any equivalent experience acceptable to the District Council”. Branch managers whose firms trade options will have to pass the new Options Supervisors Course. The new course replaces the options portion of the Branch Managers Course and the Registered Options Principal Examination.
The five years’ experience requirement has been removed from the proficiency requirements for trading partners, officers and directors. The power to exempt people from proficiency requirements has been transferred to the District Councils from the Board of Directors.
The desire to get more people trained more quickly for the discount brokers has pushed the IDA to drop the requirement for investment representatives from a three-month training program to a one-month training program.
The IDA has introduced proficiency requirements for traders. The Toronto Stock Exchange used to be responsible for their approval, but now the IDA needs requirements of its own.
Portfolio managers currently enrolled in the Professional Financial Planning Course can now apply this course towards enrollment in the Portfolio Management Techniques Course (formerly CIM II), otherwise they must first complete the Investment Management Techniques Course.
-IE staff