“AMF Proposes Regulation to Simplify Complaint Handling for Consumers in Quebec’s Financial Industry”

At the end of February, the AMF completed a second consultation on the subject, for which the definition of the complaint had a slightly broader scope than in the first consultation. According to the new definition, as soon as a customer expresses dissatisfaction with a service or a product offered, it is a complaint. The team responsible for handling complaints has 60 days to comply, subject to exceptions.

Various members of the financial industry had felt that the project would complicate their disclosure of complaints, both in the securities industry and in the insurance industry. For example, as part of the Regulators’ Scorecard, a respondent from the insurance industry complained that the proposed regulations lacked alignment with the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators’ (CCIR) definition of a complaint, for which there is a national reporting requirement.

Éric Jacob stressed that it was healthy for the industry to comment on the draft regulations. “The objectives of the project for me were to simplify the complaint handling process for consumers in Quebec. There was a desire to harmonize the rules for all sectors of the » capital markets in the province.

He noted that this is the first draft regulation that would apply to consumers of financial services whether they do business with an insurer, a broker, a financial services cooperative or a firm.

“The objective is to enhance complaint handling practices by favoring rapid resolution of complaint handling,” noted Éric Jacob.

He pointed out the AMF has taken note of the disharmony with the rules of the new securities self-regulatory organization, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (ICRO).

“I reassure you, we are currently having discussions to be able to optimize this compliance burden to be as harmonized as possible. Just yesterday, we had discussions “with the OCRI, noted Éric Jacob.

Furthermore, the AMF also took note of the fact that the regulator had many successive regulatory reforms and needed a particular implementation period. He was told that “there is an accumulation of projects. We understand. We took that into account. We should certainly extend the period, we are talking about 18 to 24 months. »