Investment industry planning to challenge new do-not-call list ruling

The financial industry says it plans to lobby against a recent CRTC decision that brings financial planners under the rules of the national do-not-call list, Ian Russell, president and CEO of the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC), said in an interview. “This has happened without any notice and any opportunity to adjust to the new reality,” Russell told The Wire Report. “What’s important is to mount a lobbying effort with the CRTC to get this changed.” On Aug. 19 the commission decided that financial advisers, like insurance brokers and many other industries, can be subject to complaints and fines under the national do-not-call list if they call those registered on the list. But the CRTC has created an exception for financial advisers to call their existing customers between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. even if they are registered on the do-not-call list. The financial industry has some options before them. It could make a formal request for the commission to review and vary the decision, and if that failed, appeal it to the Federal Court of Appeal. But Russell said the IIAC is optimistic the CRTC will change its position on telemarketing for registered brokers so that no formal review or legal action will be necessary. Russell said the decision represented a sudden “about face” by the CRTC because the industry did not receive any warning. “We are surprised at this sudden move because we consulted pretty extensively with the CRTC and were carved out of the do-not-call rules for our existing customer relationships,” he said. John Lawford, counsel with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), said in an interview that he was also surprised with the decision but happy with the way it turned out. “I think it’s the correct decision and I have no doubt it will be appealed in a nanosecond,” Lawford said. Russell said the CRTC’s time restrictions could cause problems when financial brokers call customers in other time zones. The Toronto Stock Exchange, for example, opens at 9:30 a.m. EST, which for customers in British Columbia is 6:30 a.m. PST, outside of the allowed calling hours. “With fast moving markets you want to be able to communicate with your clients quickly and on a very timely basis,” Russell said. But Lawford said financial advisers could add a line in their client engagement letters to give them explicit permission to call in the early hours of the morning. The written consent would protect them from repercussions tied to the do-not-call list, he said. John Whaley, executive director of the Independent Financial Brokers of Canada (IFBC), an organization that represents financial advisers as well as insurance brokers (who were already subject to the do-not-call list rules), said he takes issue with the CRTC’s definition of an existing customer. “Their definition for ‘existing’ is someone that you’ve had a transaction with in the last 18 months,” Whaley said in an interview. He said it is not unusual for a business relationship be silent for longer than 18 months. Under the rules, if an insurance broker calls a customer to renew a five-year term policy, they are making a “telemarketing” call if the customer has not been contacted for 18 months. “What they really want to do is bug people who are not their clients,” Lawford said. “They also want to continue to bother people after you haven’t done any business with them for 18 months.” Whaley acknowledged that it may be difficult to exempt the financial and insurance industries from the national do-not-call list because he said the CRTC is likely interpreting the rules as they exist under the Telecommunications Act. “Getting the government to change the whole act is going to be difficult,” Whaley said. Lawford said the newspaper industry, which is exempt from complaints under the do-not-call list, lobbied the House of Commons directly after the do-not-call list implementing legislation was tabled in 2005. Political parties, charities and polling companies are also exempt from the do-not-call list. “I have this impression that the CRTC takes these little tough stands for about 10 minutes, but when people get them up against the wall, they give up,” Lawford said. Russell said he is confident that the financial industry can again be exempted as a “telemarketer” under the do-not-call list rules. “We do have a pretty good relationship with the CRTC and we’re optimistic we’ll get it sorted out,” he said. But Lawford said an exemption for the financial and insurance industries would “undermine the whole idea of the list.” jmigneault@thewirereport.ca

Investment industry planning to challenge new do-not-call list ruling

News | August 23, 2010

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