Progress made on one securities body /Two more provinces accept national regulation /JULIAN BELTRAME THE CANADIAN PRESS O T TAWA — Finance Minister Joe Oliver welcomed the addition of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick to the federal drive to create a national securities regulator, setting up a timetable to have the new office in operation by the fall of 2015. The addition brings to four — including original members Ontario and British Columbia — the number of provinces that have signed on to the project , although they represent about three quarters o f Canadian listed companies with a market capitalization of 53 per cent of the total. But Alberta and Quebec, two significant capital markets, remained outside the process and said they had not change their minds. “Today is a landmark day . . . this is a day that Jim Flaherty would be very happy about, Oliver said in a reference to his predecessor, who championed the initiative for eight mostly frustrating years. Oliver said foreign governments had long looked upon Canada’s system of 13 separate provincial and territorial regulators with “bemusement at a time of global financial markets. And from personal experience as a former investment banker and securities regulator, he said he too found the status quo unacceptable. “The result has added cost, regulatory uncertainty, weakened enforcement capacity and an uneven oversight of systemic risk, he explained. Industry groups hailed the progress. The Investment Industry Association of Canada said the announcement “signals an end to the archaic and fragmented patchwork. John Manley of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives called it a major step forward and the Canadian Bankers Association called on other provinces to join in . The announcement Wednesday leaves six provinces out of the scheme — with Alberta and Quebec representing key hold-outs given the size and scope of their economies. Alberta Finance Minister Doug Horner said the new arrangement would leave the Canadian regulatory framework even more “fractured and accused Ottawa of amending its original agreement to accommodate smaller provinces without informing him. Horner said the new system would simply add another layer of bureaucracy. Meanwhile, Quebec’s Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Fournier noted the Supreme Court had already established provincial jurisdiction, but would wait to see the details of the new national body before deciding whether to launch a court action. “It’s not a source of new political tension, Fournier said. “It’s two different positions that continue to not be able to find common ground. We’ll see what they really want to do, for now we’re living in uncertainty over what they will table. Both provinces maintained a national regulator was unnecessary because the current system is working just fine. Still, Ian Russell of the Investment Industry Association said he believes it is only a matter of time before most other provinces join in, especially once the new office begins functioning . “You suddenly are introducing a uniform securities act with detailed regulations . . . that will encompass at least 50 or 60 per cent of the Canadian capital markets, Russell said. “It will only be a short matter of time before most of the other provinces will come in because there’s too many efficiencies to gain by coming in and too much efficiency lost by staying out. Oliver and the ministers from the four provinces, who were present at the Wednesday announcement , also held out the olive branch to the hold-outs. B.C. Finance Minister Michael De Jong urged them to “study the document.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 14:05:22 +0000