A year has passed since the OSC submitted its response to the Ontario government on potentially anti-competitive practices at Canada’s major banks. Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy asked the commission to examine how banks were limiting their investment product shelves at bank branches to proprietary funds. Banks had cited the client-focused reforms’ product proficiency requirements as a reason for the move.

What’s happened since? Not much, which is a source of frustration for some in the industry.

The wealth management leadership carousel kept on spinning this week as more firms announced executive appointments and retirements. Martin Gagnon, National Bank’s executive vice-president of wealth management, is set to retire in April, with Denis Girouard stepping into the role on an interim basis.

Looking to move forward
At iA Financial Group, Stephan Bourbonnais is the new executive vice-president, wealth management, and he’ll stay on as president of iA Private Wealth for now. Meanwhile, only a year after leaving the top job at Fiera Capital Corp., Jean-Guy Desjardins is once again the asset manager’s CEO. Here’s a roundup of all the week’s moves.

Retail investors don’t have much confidence in their own investment ability or in regulators, so they rely primarily on investment firms and financial advisors, according to research from investor advocacy group FAIR Canada. However, the report said many clients’ relationship with advisors is an “uneasy” one, characterized by a lack of trust and concerns over high fees and unsuitable products.

We’re into the final weekend before the RRSP deadline, but January fund sales suggest the season was off to a slow start. Both mutual funds and ETFs reported net redemptions last month, according to a report from IFIC.

The co-founders of failed fund manager Bridging Finance Inc. don’t have a viable case for “abuse of process” by OSC staff, the Capital Markets Tribunal said this week. The motions had alleged that OSC staff committed abuse of process when they included testimony compelled from David and Natasha Sharpe in a court filing seeking a receiver for the company. James Langton reports.

What’s happened since? Not much, which is a source of frustration for some in the industry.

As always, we welcome your feedback and ideas.
– Mark