Compliance officers for mutual fund dealers across Canada have formed the Association of Canadian Compliance Professionals (ACCP).

The ACCP, which currently has approximately 80 individual members, is dedicated to:

  • promoting professionalism among compliance officers within the mutual fund dealer community across Canada;
  • promoting harmonization of regulation within the mutual fund dealer community, alerting its members to important regulatory developments and to offering interpretive and practical guidance;
  • sponsoring educational meetings that serve as forums for exchanging ideas and information; and
  • recommending best practices within the mutual fund dealer community.

    Membership is open to compliance officers of firms who are members of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association who manage and supervise sales representatives and at intermediaries who offer self-directed plans to the dealer community.

    “The increasing complexity and volume of new regulations and differences in the requirements across Canada made it evident to mutual fund dealer compliance officers that it would beneficial to all of us to work more closely together,” said Sandra Kegie, one of the founders of the ACCP and the chairwoman of the new organization. Kegie is the chief compliance officer of FundEX Investments Inc.

    “As a result, we began meeting informally four years ago. Interest has steadily grown to where we have growing membership representation in every province, excluding Quebec where the compliance officers are working together with the assistance of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada IFIC). It is our intention to form chapters in each province, and in fact there are already five in operation.” Kegie said.

    “We expect that the ACCP will play an increasingly important role, working with the securities commissions, IFIC, and the MFDA and others in achieving greater harmonization of the regulatory regime across Canada, fostering confidence among mutual funds investors, and ensuring the on-going professionalism of compliance officers,” she said.

    On May 10, the ACCP and IFIC will hold the third annual Compliance Forum at the Inn on the Park Hotel in Toronto. The program includes discussions on investment industry trends and issues, MFDA compliance and enforcement, privacy issues, and the anatomy of efficiently handling client complaints.

    At the ACCP’s recent first Annual General Meeting it elected a slate of officers comprising Kegie as chairwoman; John Kennedy, vice president, Altamira Financial, as vicechairman; Gerri Sefi-Hoy, president, Phoenix Enterprises, as secretary/treasurer; Kathleen Laponsee, manager, training and operations, ING Canada, as director; and Terry Ford, national compliance officer, Partners in Planning Financial Services Ltd., as director.