Read more: One Saskatchewan advisor seeks balanced regulations
FPAC has formed a collation with the CFA Societies Canada and FAIR Canada, which is calling on provincial governments to establish higher standards for financial advisors. Pereira said that while it would prefer a national standard, that isn’t what is evolving right now.
While Saskatchewan’s proposal is better than Ontario’s framework, coalition members are disappointed with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario’s approach to approving credentials for financial advisors because it’s product-focused approach doesn’t align with what most consumers expect from a financial advisor. In fact, the coalition believes that Ontario’s approach sets the bar too low, so places consumers at risk.
“If the possibility opened up to fix Ontario,” said Pereira, “we would jump at it in a heartbeat. But, at this point, that does not appear to be the case. So, as far as we’re concerned, the battlefront has moved elsewhere.”
As other provinces consider this field, he added, “we cannot simply say, ‘sorry, harmonization with Ontario is not the solution to protect our constituents’. We need to either set a different standard or align with other standards.”
