RIBO opts for principal occupation rule

In advance of its annual meeting this month, the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO) has released a policy paper on the province’s proposal to remove the sole occupation requirement for brokers. RIBO favours changing the requirement to ‘principal occupation’, rather than removing it altogether, as has been suggested by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO).

FSCO superintendent Dina Palozzi has said that the commission wants to remove the requirement to reflect the crumbling of financial pillars and “pressure on the intermediary to satisfy a range of [consumer] needs”. However, in a recent CU article RIBO vice president Brian Hitchlock noted brokers’ concerns “that conflict of interest and undue influence will be placed on the consumer” by removal of restrictions on occupation and product and service offerings.

Changing the requirement to principal occupation is in keeping with the current policies of RIBO’s Qualification and Registration Committee, and those of other provinces.