Investor Presentaiton
1.
INTRODUCTION
The Public Finance Committee is one of 11 permanent parliamentary committees of the
Québec National Assembly. It has 12 members representing all political parties in the
National Assembly. The Committee deals with matters relating to finance, budgets, public
accounts, government administration, public service as well as supplies and services.
The Committee has undertaken this study of investor protection by virtue of its power of
initiative. It was in September 2003 that it first expressed its interest in the topic of investor
protection in Québec. Recent events in Québec and elsewhere in the world had pointed to
the importance of this issue, which involves many players, including the Committee
members in their role as legislators and citizen representatives.
The Committee elected to focus on the mutual funds sector in particular because of its large
size ($83 billion in Québec for 2005) and recent problems in the industry. In February 2006,
the MNAS serving on the Committee began preliminary discussions during their work
sessions to probe certain facets of the issues. The Committee then heard from The
Investment Dealers Association of Canada; the Canadian Association of Personal Insurance
Companies; Autorité des marchés financiers; Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec; the
Conseil des fonds d'investissement du Québec; Mr. Jean-François Guimond, a professor at
Université Laval's Department of Finance and Insurance; Mr. Stephen Jarislowsky of
Jarislowsky, Fraser Itée; Mr. Michel Marcoux, a columnist at the Le Devoir newspaper; and
Option Consommateurs.
With this consultation paper, the Committee begins the principal phase of its work, which is
to hold public hearings. This paper does not claim to be exhaustive. Rather, it aims to be a
tool for encouraging discussions on a matter that affects a not inconsiderable number of
citizens. The paper is therefore not intended only for experts and specialized groups, but
also for citizens themselves as individual investors, since they are the main ones concerned.
The Committee will select individuals and organizations to invite for hearings from among
those who submit briefs.
Consultation paper
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