Quebec aims to axe two financial oversight bodies

Two organizations threatened by the Quebec government’s proposed reframing of the financial sector say they fear consumer protection will take a hit.

On Thursday, Finance Minister Carlos Leitão tabled a 488-page document that would abolish the Chambre de la sécurité financière (CSF) and the Chambre de l’assurance de dommages (ChAD), both self-policing organizations.

It proposes that the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) would be solely responsible for overseeing professional ethics, discipline and training of professionals who sell financial products and services.

“We are abandoning a layer of protection for the public,” ChAD president Maya Raic said in a telephone interview.

“My fear is about prevention, which is what we focus on. The AMF deals with coercion.”

Leitão had initially set his sights on the spring for unveiling this omnibus bill for the financial sector, which also affects deposits and the workings of financial institutions, but had to wait until after the parliamentary recess.

In the last few weeks, both the CSF and ChAD tried to get the Philippe Couillard’s Liberal government to back down, but to no avail.

“There is a difference between a governmental oversight and a professional oversight,” CSF president Marie Elaine Farley said. “These are self-policing professional organizations who effect front-line interventions and ensure proper training. Why end that?”

Raic also asked why the government was targeting these two organizations.

“Implementation will take a lot of the AMF’s time and energy,” she said. “In the meantime, how will the public be protected? The process could be long, and that weakens oversight.”

The AMF, however, welcomed the news “with great satisfaction,” calling it a “modernization of the laws governing Quebec’s financial sector,” AMF spokesperson Sylvain Théberge said.

In response to the ChAD’s fears, Théberge said the AMF wanted to assure consumers.

“The two groups will no longer exist, but we will absorb their expertise. This will create a truly unified regulator in Quebec.”

The financial services and products act will allow transactions by “technological means,” allowing customers to purchase financial products without having to consult a certified professional, although few details were available about how that will be policed.

This bill also proposes the Insurers Act replace the Insurance Act, which covers numerous provisions regarding the supervision and oversight of the insurance industry.