On May 11, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published CSA Staff Notice 33-319 Status Report on CSA Consultation Paper 33-404 Proposals to Enhance the Obligations of Advisers, Dealers, and Representatives Toward Their Clients (Notice).

The Notice provides a high level summary of the consultation process to date regarding CSA Consultation Paper 33-404 Proposals to Enhance the Obligations of Advisers, Dealers, and Representatives Toward Their Clients (Consultation Paper), and identifies certain high level themes arising in the process and gives a sense of the direction that the CSA will take in regards to certain of the proposals from the Consultation Paper.

Background

The Consultation Paper is part of the CSA’s effort in improving the relationship between clients and their advisers, dealers and representatives, and sought comments on proposed regulatory action aimed at enhancing same.  The Consultation Paper proposed two regulatory changes: (1) amendments to NI 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations (NI 31-103) that would work together to better align the interests of registrants to the interests of their clients and enhance various specific obligations that registrants owe to their clients, and (2) a regulatory best interest standard, accompanied by guidance, that would form both an over-arching standard and the governing principle against which all other client-related obligations would be interpreted.  All CSA jurisdictions are participating in the consultation process on these topics, with the exception of the British Columbia Securities Commission who is only consulting on the proposed amendments to NI 31-103.Continue Reading New Themes and Direction Resulting from CSA Consultation Paper 33-404