SROs To Receive More Power At The Expense Of Procedural Fairness

The Ontario Government is proposing to allow self-regulatory organizations (SROs) to use the civil court system to collect fines from their current and former members. The Budget for 2017, released earlier this year, calls for more effective enforcement measures in the investment regulatory regime by permitting SROs such as the Mutual Fund Dealers Association ( MFDA) and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada ( IIROC) to register disciplinary decisions and penalty orders with the courts. In the event that a member (or more likely former member) fails to pay the fine following a disciplinary hearing, the SRO will be able to attempt to collect the amount owing as if such was a judgment obtained a civil action. No details have been disclosed as to the exact legislative changes and when these changes will take effect, although similar legislation already exists in Alberta, Quebec and Prince Edward Island. While this new enforcement power purports to