Bring in a Canadian securities regulator: panel

Last Updated: Monday, January 12, 2009 | 4:11 PM ET

crisis heightens the need for a single national securities regulator, the head of a panel appointed by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday.

"With the clouds of a global financial crisis gathering we must get our act together — not 'some day' but right now," Tom Hockin said in the prepared text of his speech to members of the Vancouver Board of Trade.

"That is why, unlike previous studies of this subject we propose that if, after a reasonable time, a province or territory still choose to not join in this new regime, market participants in those non-participating regions should have the opportunity to opt in directly and reap the benefits of a single, national regulator," he said.

Hockin was speaking as part of the release by his seven-person panel of experts, who urged the country to move away from its current system of 13 securities regulators in the provinces and territories and their individual regimes.

While the regulator would be national, it would operate from regional offices so it could address local needs, he said.

The renewed push to create a national securities regulator could face opposition from the provinces, with Quebec and Alberta among the most entrenched opponents.

Investor panel and fund recommended

The panel is making several recommendations to improve on investor service, including the creation of an investor panel and an investor compensation fund.

The group is also calling for the establishment of an independent adjunctive tribunal, which, he said, would remove the "perception of bias that might exist when a securities commission is both regulator and adjudicator," he said.

A former federal Conservative cabinet minister, Hockin said the panel met with more than 100 stakeholders, received over 70 written submissions and consulted with experts from the U.K. and the U.S.

The expert panel also includes:

• Ian Bruce, chief executive of Peters & Co. Ltd.
• Denis Desautels, former auditor general of Canada.
• Hal Kvisle, president of TransCanada Corp.
• Dawn Russell, a law professor at Dalhousie University.
• Terry Salman of Salman Partners Inc.
• Heather Zordel, a partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell.

The release of the report comes just ahead of meetings this week of Prime Minister Stephen Harper with the provincial and territorial leaders over the handling of the economy.

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said he was pleased the panel endorsed the province's position on a single national regulator and staked out Ontario's interest in the issue.

"Our government supports a common securities regulator," Duncan said. "Given the significant role Ontario's financial sector plays in Canada's capital markets, we would expect to see the headquarters located in Toronto."