The Chambre de la sécurité financière is responsible for protecting the saving-investing public in Quebec. In addition to ensuring the continuing education, ethics and discipline of its 34,000 members active in the distribution of financial products, the self-regulatory organization is now tackling financial inequalities, particularly those affecting women and cultural communities.
Me Marie Elaine Farley, CEO of the Chambre de la sécurité financière (CSF) since 2015, decided to add these new components to the initial mandate of the self-regulatory body following a long period of reflection that began following the adoption of Act 141 on the supervision of the financial sector, which provided for the abolition of the CSF after 25 years of existence.
“From 2016 to 2018, we had to defend the relevance of the Financial Security Chamber to the government and in parliamentary committee, because we wanted to abolish it. We finally won our case, the government amended its bill, but that’s when we saw that we could do even more to protect the public,” says Marie Elaine Farley.
It should be remembered that the CSF is responsible for the discipline, continuing education and ethics of financial security advisors, group insurance and annuity advisors, financial planners, group savings representatives and scholarship plan representatives.
Your financial advisor at your Caisse or bank is supervised by the CSF and must follow the continuing education that the organization accredits and that is offered by financial institutions. The CSF also has a team of about twenty investigators who carry out more than 350 investigations per year.
“The sector is very well regulated and supervised, we have the best system in Canada, and that is why we conduct fewer investigations than 10 years ago, when we did more than 500 per year,” emphasizes the CEO.
It is important to have an organization that is a safety net for the public and to properly supervise the 34,000 professionals in the financial sector, but today, we are doing more than our statutory mission.
Marie Elaine Farley, CEO of the Financial Security Chamber
“We have brought together the organizations that work with us, such as Option consommateurs, ÉducÉpargne, financial institutions, etc., to better respond to today’s realities,” continues Marie Elaine Farley.
The CSF has already conducted surveys on couples and money to note that inequalities are very real, with 94% of men earning more than their spouse and a large number of couples living in common-law relationships thinking that they are entitled to the same protections as if they were married.
“Investment advisors need to be aware of these realities because they have an obligation to look out for their clients’ interests. We want to better equip our 34,000 members so that they are able to better meet their clients’ needs,” summarizes M.me Farley.
Money, inequality and society
This new concern about social issues led the Chamber of Financial Security to join forces last year with the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS) to create an INRS-CSF research and training chair, the Money, Inequality and Society Chair, headed by sociologist Hélène Belleau.
This research chair examines the social aspects of financial management in Quebec with the aim of determining inequalities and developing solutions to smooth them out.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Financial Security Chamber CEO Marie Elaine Farley
We are aiming for a dual objective with [la] research chair [argent, inégalités et société] : provide training to our 34,000 members on inequalities which will enable them to better serve their clients and provide information to the general population to raise awareness and help change things.
Marie Elaine Farley, CEO of the Financial Security Chamber
The first research project that the Chair in Money, Inequality and Society is examining focuses on the financial issues and challenges specific to Quebecers facing complex family situations, such as blended households, families with a disabled child, situations of domestic violence, etc.
The Chair will also carry out a project on the economic dynamics of immigrants to assess how equity, diversity and inclusion are combined in the management of personal finances.
Finally, a third study will look at financial perceptions and practices according to the regions of Quebec and the gender of the people.
“We want to do useful work by training our people better and making all the results of our research available to the general public. Everything is done at no cost since it is our members who pay for the work of the chair,” insists Marie Elaine Farley.
“By knowing more and more about how their clients manage their personal finances and the situations in which they sometimes find themselves, our members are and will be able to continue to inform and advise them well.”