The CSF looks to the future
Following the debates around Bill 141, the CSF opened a new chapter in its history with a focus on improving its relations with stakeholders and evolving its practices in order to fulfil its mission of protecting the public.
The CSF became more active on the ground with committees and collaborative initiatives:
- “We invited more than 150 compliance managers to a virtual consultation with the syndic,” the President and CEO explains. “We organized a meeting to discuss how to work better with compliance managers and process investigations more efficiently.”
- “We are developing a service to help compliance managers supervise the continuing education of members.” Specifically, firms will be able to monitor the professional development unit (PDU) records of consenting advisors in real time. “The project will help compliance managers fulfil their responsibilities to the networks and the public at the end of continuing education reference periods.”
The CSF has strengthened its relationship with the AMF, which recognized the importance of our organization during the debate on the new SRO for the securities industry. The AMF has indicated that its recognition of the new SRO will not change the CSF’s mandate, functions or powers.
The Regulation respecting alternative distribution methods is another example of productive collaboration with the regulator where the CSF was able to leverage its expertise from the field.
The CSF has invested in redesigning its website and supporting its digital transformation. This shift represents a collective project where everyone contributes and offers their expertise to improve our quality of service.
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- The digital transformation has accelerated as a result of the pandemic.
- The CSF’s disciplinary committee conducts around one hundred hearings a year. Its activities slowed down somewhat at the start of the pandemic, but the majority of hearings continued in videoconference format.
The CSF has been working on building the syndic’s team since the major staff changes that occurred at the time of the debates around Bill 141. Since his arrival at the CSF, Gilles Ouimet has fully embraced his syndic role and used his solid experience to inspire a new form of leadership. The syndic stepped up teamwork and successfully reduced the number of investigations pending 12 months or more by more than 50% in two years, while also committing to improve relationships with firms’ compliance managers.
With “La voix du client” (The Client’s Voice), the CSF launched a service for members that would be proactive rather than reactive. “We want to listen more and respond to the needs of members who contact us. We want to seize opportunities to understand their needs so we can support them better and offer more education.”
A number of changes have occurred on the CSF’s board of directors. A board meeting elected Alain C. Roy to the position of chairman. He replaced Gino-Sebastian Savard. Sylvain De Champlain and Anne Côté were also appointed the two board vice-chairs. Daniela Altgauzen was elected representative of the registration category of representative of a mutual fund dealer, taking over from Charles Drolet. Jean-Sébastien Jutras was elected representative of the personal insurance sector, replacing Gino-Sébastian Savard. Finally, Guy Barbeau was elected representative of the group insurance sector.
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