Alberta and Quebec have joined forces in a broadside against the formation of a national securities regulator.
In a blistering 44-page missive, Fraser Milner & Casgrain lawyer Pierre Lortie assails the federal government’s rationale for the necessity of a national regulator and questions the idea that such a body would be preferable to the patchwork system currently in place.
Representing the Alberta department of justice and Quebec’s AMF, Lortie argues that the current system is sufficient and that there is no empirical evidence to suggest a centralized regulator would provide greater efficiencies or increased supervision. In fact, he concludes that the current regulatory system is on par with those of the U.K., the U.S. and Australia.
“Who ‘really’ stands to benefit from the creation of a federal securities commission?” writes Lortie. “The review of independent empirical evidence demonstrates that it is certainly not Canadian investors, junior issuers, nor the fairness and efficiency of the Canadian capital markets.”
Instead of building on the “enviable record of our securities regulatory regime to enhance its position and influence in international forums,” the Canadian government has instead chosen to “denigrate and undermine the reputation of Canadian capital markets and to commit substantial funding to duplicate what already exists at a time when public finances are stressed everywhere.”
Lortie concludes that the “vainglorious attempt” to centralize regulation will ultimately backfire on the federal government.
Read the report here.