Watchdog to get more bite as N.L. legislature backs bill to bolster regulator's powers
Newfoundland and Labrador's House of Assembly is moving forward with legislation to give an industry watchdog more bite, through enhanced abilities to investigate and sanction investment advisors who break the rules.
"It's extremely important to protect consumers," Digital Government and Service N.L. Minister Sarah Stoodley told CBC News.
Bill 16, when enacted, will provide a suite of new powers to self-regulatory organizations like the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, or IIROC, which sets and enforces the rules for investment firms and advisors.
Those new powers include:
Compelling evidence in investigations and hearings.
Filing decisions with the Supreme Court, to assist with the enforcement of fines imposed on rogue advisors found to have violated the rules.
Allowing orders from other Canadian jurisdictions to be enforced in the province.
"This would take us up to par, my understanding is, with the strongest of legislation within the provinces," Stoodley said.
Until now, Newfoundland and Labrador had lagged behind the rest of the country.
Stoodley defended that delay by saying this was a "complex piece of legislation."
She added that it was a "high priority" for the government, as the first bill brought forward in the current session of the House of Assembly.
The legislation was supported by both sides of the House when it passed second reading on Monday.
IIROC and the province had been corresponding about potential changes for at least two years, according to records previously released through access to information.
Regulator lauds changes to N.L. law
In an emailed statement, IIROC president and CEO Andrew Kriegler thanked the Newfoundland and Labrador government for the "strong steps they have taken to protect investors" by bringing forward these amendments.
"A key priority for IIROC is ensuring a consistent level of investor protection from coast to coast," Kriegler noted.
He said the passage of Bill 16 will give IIROC the ability to enforce its hearing decisions through the courts in Newfoundland and Labrador, "sending a strong message of deterrence and giving investors confidence in the regulatory system."
Former advisor accused of bilking clients
The regulator's long-standing lack of legislative authority in the province hit the media spotlight earlier this year, after IIROC launched proceedings against a former Newfoundland investment advisor.
IIROC alleges Joan McCarthy falsified signatures and absconded with $775,000 from the accounts of six elderly clients over a 13-year period.
McCarthy no longer works for a registered firm, and has declined to co-operate with IIROC investigators or participate in those disciplinary proceedings.
A disciplinary hearing is scheduled for next week.
That same day, McCarthy is also scheduled to appear at provincial court in St. John's on two dozen fraud- and forgery-related charges.
