Independent risk management advisors must be registered with the provincial securities regulator in order to carry on advisory activities related to insurance product offerings, following a precedent-setting ruling by the Court of Quebec that is being hailed as a victory for Quebec consumers by insurance and legal experts.
Up until the ruling Quebec consumers had no recourse against risk management advisors because they operated outside the scope of An Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services (Act) thanks to a loophole in the law.
“This ruling sheds light on what has been considered to be a grey zone,” noted Sylvain Théberge, a spokesman with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the regulatory and oversight body for Québec’s financial sector. “It’s not because you are an unregistered risk management advisor that the repercussions of the advice being offered will have less of an impact than a consultant who is duly registered. The ruling clearly states that by the very nature of their work these consultants must be duly registered.”