Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50883
the regional tensions, he acknowledges the challenge but says it's an issue he's determined to resolve. "That's obviously something I'm very conscious of and committed to, having a regulator that's flexible … to regional economies." Doing so will require a balancing act between empowering the single regula- tor's local offices to make decisions and the need to co-ordinate securities regula- tion across the country. "I think we have the opportunity to have an organiza- tion that is decentralized … but there is enough communication so that they're building on each other's experience." Fluker believes the regional issue won't go away easily. He predicts oppo- nents will take the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which in his mind would likely rule either that the provinces have exclusive jurisdic- tion over securities or, in the best case scenario for Flaherty, the two levels of government share it. In that lat ter instance, he argues nothing would improve since Canada's major financial centres — Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal — would fall under different regulators and therefore still require some sort of passport system. "To the extent that Montreal and Calgary are not going to participate, basically your federal regime is going to cover Vancouver and Toronto." "I just don't see how the national regulator is going to solve the prob- lem that it purports to [address]. Lots of people are going to make a lot of money on it in the meantime." It's perhaps that last sentiment that is one of the few certainties to come out of the melee between the new pass- port and related rules, and the planned national regulator. As DesLauriers points out, the changes are keeping people like him busy advising clients on how to comply, a scenario that will repeat once a single body starts up. "There's still more to come and a lot of work to do in the transition." IH Don't miss the following conferences presented by ATLANTIC CANADA POWER SUMMIT October 5 – 6 | Saint John E-DISCOVERY AND E-DOCUMENTS October 19 | Montréal ENTERTAINMENT SUMMIT October 19 – 20 | Toronto CLINICAL TRIALS October 19 – 20 | Toronto INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS October 19 – 20 | Toronto CFO SUMMIT October 21 – 22 | Toronto E-HEALTH October 21 – 22 | Halifax October 26 – 27 | Calgary December 7 – 8 | Toronto ENROLL TODAY! 1 888 777-1707 | www.insightinfo.com 30 • OCTOBER 2009 Untitled-9 1 INHOUSE ABORIGINAL LAW October 26 – 27 | Toronto LAW TECH CANADA November 16 – 17 | Toronto MAJOR BUSINESS AGREEMENTS November 19 – 20 | Chicago NON-PROFIT AND CHARITY SEMINAR November 23 – 24 | Toronto CANADIAN SECURITIES REGULATION COURSE November 23 – 24 | Toronto CANADIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS FORUM November 30 – December 1 | Toronto CLINICAL TRIALS SITE MANAGEMENT November 30 – December 1 | Montréal Media Partner 8/24/09 11:53:03 AM