Toronto – October 1, 2008 � Financial advisors in Prince Edward Island will now be on a level playing field with their colleagues in most of the rest of Canada with the recent approval of advisor incorporation in the province. With this change, corporations controlled by an individual registered advisor may receive payments of commissions and fees from the advisor’s registered dealer.
“This was too important an issue for our members,” said Peter Tzanetakis, Advocis’ Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs. “We had to ensure that advisors in PEI had access to the same advantages as those in most other provinces. The last two provinces that have yet to make the change are Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta.”
Advocis has long advocated for this critical change to advisor incorporation through constructive dialogue with the province’s Superintendent of Securities. With Advocis’ submission in hand, the PEI Securities Division of the Office of the Attorney General determined that to permit the payment of commissions or fees to a corporation that is not registered is not “prejudicial to the public interest.”
“This prejudice against individual financial advisors is almost at an end,” continued Mr. Tzanetakis. “Advocis is continuing to advocate for equity for all advisors. We are hoping for positive outcomes from our representations to regulators in the last two jurisdictions.”
Advocis, The Financial Advisors Association of Canada, is the oldest and largest voluntary professional membership association of financial advisors and planners in Canada. With more than 10,000 advisors and planners in 43 chapters across Canada, Advocis members provide financial advice, product service and employee benefit planning to millions of Canadians in a number of areas including estate and retirement planning, wealth management, risk management and tax planning. For more information about Advocis or to view the submissions on advisor incorporation, visit www.advocis.ca.
