downloading the PDF - Robson Hall Faculty of Law

FEATURE
JP: Does the Court’s decision prohibit the federal
government from becoming more involved in
securities regulation?
DM: Absolutely not. The opinion of the Court simply
indicates that the federal government cannot act
unilaterally in this area and take over what has been
the domain of the provinces. But this is not the end
of the story. There is such a thing as “collaborative”
or “cooperative” federalism. There is no reason that
the federal government cannot work alongside the
provinces to ensure that securities markets work
properly and efficiently. In other words, rather than
taking something away from the provinces, if the
federal government wants a say in the regulation of
securities, the federal government will have to play
nicely with its provincial and territorial counterparts.
JP: Is there a practical reason to have more
than one regulator?
DM: There many practical advantages to having
more than one regulator. The dominant regulator
in the United States (the Securities and Exchange
Commission) did not stop a number of market
problems in the last decade. In my view, anything that
involves people is fallible. Since this is true, multiple
sets of eyes looking at potential securities offerings
is a good idea. One set of eyes can miss things. The
more regulators that look at the offering, the less likely
it is that major errors will be made. This will avoid
complacency by all regulators when they know that
other regulators will also be reviewing the documents.
Some will say that efficiency will be lost. Any
regulation at all will slow the offering from getting
to market. But the point of regulation is to protect
the public. Just because a number of regulators are
examining the offering does not necessarily mean
that speed will be sacrificed. Different regulators
can review the offering at the same time. In the
end, therefore, there are a number of advantages to
multiple regulators.
For a more detailed discussion
Check out Darcy MacPherson’s article on the Manitoba
Law Journal blog at robsonhall.ca/mlj/
77 ROBSON HALL ALUMNI REPORT