ONE ISSUE THAT has been brewing for too long, but is now coming
to a head in wealth planning, is the regulation of those who
provide financial product sales advice and financial planning
services – often offered under the nomenclature of estate
planning or retirement planning advice. There is a lot of movement
afoot as many jurisdictions, including my home jurisdiction of
Ontario, other Canadian provinces and the US, grapple with how best
to regulate those who offer such services, given the lack of a
modernised, comprehensive legal framework for doing so.
One of the burning issues is whether or not a statutory
'best interests' standard should apply. In many
jurisdictions, there is at present no express statutory obligation
for those who provide financial-product sales and advice (as
opposed to portfolio managers), and financial planning advice, to
act in the client's best interests. In many jurisdictions,
financial planning as an activity is not subject to a
