Regulation and the upcoming provincial budget
The current issue of Investment Executive has an article by Megan Harman which outlines Advocis’ position on the need to reduce the regulatory burden faced by advisors and planners in Ontario.
You’re probably aware that Advocis is urging Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan to use this year’s provincial budget as a platform to deal with the regulatory hurdles advisors and planners face.
Advocis’ pre-budget submission to Duncan made the case for the Ministry of Finance to increase its oversight of provincial regulators, especially in regard to the regulation financial advisors and planners routinely experience, as well as the need to protect Ontario consumers with regulation that does not adversely affect their ability to access competent and efficacious financial planning and advice.
Greg Pollock, Advocis president and CEO, is quoted at length in the article:
We are not asking for a handout or a subsidy… Our members simply want to do business in a regulatory environment that not only protects the public, but also ensures that advisors and planners are not hampered by unnecessary and inefficient regulation…
In addition to smart regulation—not one-size-fits-all regulation, we need to see more and better proof of the need for additional regulation. Our members see the regulation but seldom see any indication of an understanding of the size of the problem the regulation is intended to address. A cost-benefit analysis from the regulator about the benefits of protecting the consumer against the increased burden of compliance costs to the financial advisor or planner would go a long way.
Smarter regulation that’s backed by a convincing cost-benefit analysis in the consumer interest: we can think of no better time that the right now for this concept to gain purchase in the Ministry of Finance’s offices. For the moment, we will await Duncan’s budget and see what he does.
Click here for to read the entire article online at Investment Executive.