Neatness counts in registration process

(November 2005)Do you want to run a solid registration department and minimize regulatory fines for errors and omissions? Then assign a staff person whose job it to take care of the issue exclusively, instead of asking a compliance person or other officer of the firm to multi-task.

Edie Wilson, vice president for regulatory and compliance at Harrington Lane in Toronto, told a Strategy Institute conference this week there are a lot of details to track, and the person taking on the chore must be aware of the proficiency levels of everyone at the firm, including new hires.

Among the nuances regulators want to see locked down are resignations (a firm has five days to notify the National Registration Database or there’s a $100 fine), legal and civil actions, changes of address, wage garnishments, CRA issues, family support payments, and bankruptcies.

Wilson’s advice is especially appropriate, since a March 2006 deadline by which firms are expected to have cleaned up all their NRD files is looming.

She says regulators are also keen to know about outside business activities and anything else that smacks of conflict of interest. If a registered person is a silent partner with a spouse who owns a Tim Horton’s franchise, the rep should be prepared to report how much time, if any, he spends helping out.

“I had one guy who was a [weekend] ski instructor and all he got for that was a free lift pass,” she says. “I neglected to include that in a registration and got written up for it.” In another case, a registered person worked part-time in a dress shop and Wilson had to answer regulatory inquiries for details including the number of hours worked and wages earned.

Filed by Philip Porado, Advisor’s Edge philip.porado@advisor.rogers.com