Smartenu Up Institute

Mutual Fund Regulation and Governance - May 21-22, 2012


The Mutual Fund industry and its regulatory environment is the focus of this two (2) day course. Recent reviews and pending changes from both legislative and regulatory organizations on the practices and structure of this industry are discussed. 

Topics will include MFDA review and involvement, IFIC (Trade Association), the fiduciary responsibility of the fund manager and advisor, the role of the compliance officer, the board structure, the directors, the supervisory responsibilities and the disclosure requirements.

All course materials are provided. Upon confirmation of registration, the student will receive a free one-year subscription to Investment Executive, Canada's Newspaper for Financial Advisors.


Location of courses will be advised closer to the date of course delivery.


Instructor:  André Fok Kam, CA, MBA

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
 
  • Advises businesses and regulatory authorities on investment, financial and regulatory matters.
  • Developed several courses for the IFSE Institute (the educational arm of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada), including:
    • the Exempt Market Products Course
    • the Mutual Fund Dealers Compliance Course
    • the Canadian Investment Funds Operations Course
    • the Branch Managers Course
  • On behalf of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, authored Due Diligence Guidelines on Principal-protected Notes.
  • Authored two in-depth research reports on behalf of the Task Force to Modernize Securities Legislation in Canada (the Allen Task Force):
    • Canadian Framework for Hedge Fund Regulation
    • Implications of the Use of Investment Wrappers
  • Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec 1999 – 2005
    • Director, Investments
      • Responsible for optimizing the return of a private equity portfolio in the financial services industry with a fair market value of approximately $400 million and consisting of direct investments and funds.
BOARD EXPERIENCE
 
  • Currently serves on the Independent Review Committee of the Standard Life Mutual Funds.
  • Has served on the board of directors of the following companies:
    • HR Strategies Inc. (manager of funds of hedge funds and structured notes)
    • FORT Management Inc. (commodity trading adviser)
    • Holdun Investment Management Ltd. (adviser of Canadian and U.S. equities to high net worth and institutional clients)
    • SFL Management Inc. (mutual fund and insurance dealer)
    • Perimeter Financial Corporation (operator of Alternative Trading Systems for bonds and equities)
    • Has also served as Chair of the audit committee of Perimeter Financial Corporation and as an observer on the board of directors of DWM Inc. (holding company of Dynamic Mutual Funds).
PUBLICATIONS
  • 2009 From Conflict to Trust: How Mutual Funds Manage Conflicts of Interest (Carswell, 2009)
EDUCATION
  • 1992 M.B.A. with a concentration in finance, McGill University
  • 1975 B.Sc. (Economics) with First Class Honours, London School of Economics
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
  • 1989 Member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
  • Member of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec
  • 1979 Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales 
  • Admitted to Fellowship in 1989

This course should be of particular interest to:
  • Persons presently outside the industry looking to increase specific financial knowledge or seek entry to the industry
  • All participants in all sectors of the industry, including fund managers, portfolio managers, investment dealers, mutual fund dealers and service providers.
No advance preparation required, however follow-up courses recommended are:
  • Inside Canada's Securities Industry
  • Global Securities: Trading & Settlements
  • Compliance for the Securities Industry Level I
  • Compliance for the Securities Industry Level II
  • Compliance for the Securities Industry Level III
  • Science of ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds)

The benefit to the student is:
  • Gain a better understanding and have practical knowledge of mutual funds and its regulatory structure
  • Provide an integrated overview of the regulation and governance of mutual funds, with special emphasis on the management of conflicts of interest and the role of compliance 
  • Gain knowledge of the Act and Rules governing Mutual Funds
  • Acquire practical knowledge of the trading, the custody of funds, proxy voting and corporate governance
     

Day 1 Day 2
The Organisation of a Mutual Fund
  • Portrait of the Mutual Fund Industry
  • Structure of the Industry
  • Structure of a mutual fund organisation, each role and the importance of each party
  • Critical role of the Fund Manager
  • Emphasis on auditor and IRC required to be independent  of the manager and it's implications
The Regulatory Structure
  • Securitie's commissions - roles and functions
  • Administration of the provincial Securities Acts 
  • Canadian Securities Adminstrators (CSA) - principle achievements
  • Self Regulatory Organisations (SRO's) - roles and functions and limits on authority
  • Applicable laws and regulations
  • Securities Acts and National Instruments
  • Money laundering and terrorist financing
  • FINTRAC
  • Privacy Protection
Regulatory Requirements 
  • Mutual Funds as Reporting Issuers
  • Simplified prospectus and annual information form
  • Continuous disclosure, financial statements, management report of fund performance, insider reports, material change reports, etc.
  • Management of a mutual funds portfolio
  • Distribution of a mutual fund
  • Registration (NI 31-103)
 Conflicts of Interest
  • Regulatory requirements 
  • How to manage conflicts of interest
  • Types of conflicts of interest
Governance of a Mutual Fund 
  • Why fund governance matters
  • Governance structure and dependency on how the fund is established
  • the Independent Review Committee, its role and power to approve and power to recommend
The Role of Compliance 
  • The capstone of the course and why
  • What is compliance?
  • Risk Management
  • What do the regulators require?
  • Structure of the compliance function - UDP, CCO, everyone in the firm
  • Components of a compliance system
  • Common compliance deficiencies
  • The rising bar of compliance
  • Best practices
Day 2 Afternoon  
  • Exam
 



Course Code: OPC05-C0512
$2,275.00