"The IDA is a private organization and can set its own rules.""...the IDA is not an arm of the government. We are not acting as an agency or a delegate of the securities commission." Brian Awad, IDA Legal Counsel

Now the Sask Financial Services Commission has ruled that the IDA does not have the statuatory authority to levy fines on brokers who have departed the industry. It appears that everyone is now willing to distance itself from the IDA now that they have spent all credibility they once had.

The MFDA will not consider merging with them and rightly so. They have had to vote recently to split apart their conficting and contrary roles of industry trade association and industry regulator, before pressure from a more informed public, media and legislators forced them completely out of business.

It is yet to be seen is similar pressure will force the provincial securities commissions out of business, in favor of a better system of one national regualtor Canada-wide. A new regulator might also be more cognizant of the need for investor protection from a rather strongly armed industry. The provincial commissions are in my opinion guilty of delegating (wrongly) all IDA investment firms matters to the IDA itself. This is a bit like convincing the local police to recognize the local biker gang, as a "self regualtory agency", and legitimizing them further by referring all public complaints about biker gang crime, over to the same people.

The commissions have been making this exact mistake for years, and doing it with rather feeble or non-existant legislation to back them up. They get away with it in the same way the ASC gets away with total dysfunction. There is simply no watchdog. They feel they are above the law.
The SFSC decision that they do not have proper statuatory authority supports this. It will be a matter of time before law suits, and perhaps breach of trust criminal charges are considered against "self appointed, self serving regulators", and those government agencies who let them impersonate regulators to thier own personal gain.