(October 17 – 12:45 ET) – Joe Oliver, president and CEO of the Investment Dealers Association spoke to the House of Commons Finance Committee this morning, giving the IDA’s position on financial services reform.
Oliver lauded the government for proposing to open access to the payments system. “We recommend the government move expeditiously to implement this legislation so that interested securities firms can begin offering payment services to their clients.”
He also commended the recommendations that will see improved disclosure and transparency for financial products, while also protecting consumer confidentiality. However, Oliver says these measures and the proposed Financial Consumer Agency, “should be structured to avoid excessive regulatory costs for domestic institutions operating in an intensely competitive marketplace”.
Oliver suggested that there could be some conflict between the IDA’s existing arbitration system and the proposed federal system since clients will be able to participate in the federal system free-of-charge, while clients share the cost in the IDA system. Oliver called for an integrated federal/provincial plan that could cover the clients of all financial services firms without needlessly duplicating the IDA system. “The proposed federal Ombudsman is not needed to compete with the existing IDA arbitration system for the securities industry but rather should be structured to complement it.” He offered the IDA’s help in creating a joint federal/provincial solution.
-IE Staff