July 17, 2015 Insurance Securities

A draft agreement to create a legal framework to exempt administrators of duly authorized voluntary retirement savings plans (VRSP) in Québec or their equivalent in other Canadian provinces, pooled registered pension plans (PRPP), from certain formalities related to the administration of such plans was published yesterday in the Gazette officielle du Québec This link will open in a new window.

Under the proposed agreement, administrators of VRSPs would be exempt from the requirement to obtain a licence to act as administrators of PRPPs under the federal law and the law of other provinces that will be parties to the agreement and, inversely, administrators who have obtained a licence from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions to offer PRPPs elsewhere in Canada may obtain an authorization from the Autorité des marchés financiers (the "AMF") to act as administrators of VRSPs in Québec, where the conditions set out in the Agreement are met.

Note that only certain sections of the draft agreement apply to Québec, including that concerning recognition to act as an administrator and that relating to the exchange of information among the supervisory authorities.

Additional information about this agreement may be obtained from the AMF. Any person wishing to comment on the draft agreement may also submit written comments to the Minister of Finance.

On July 1, 2014, the AMF was designated to issue authorizations to life insurers, trust companies and investment fund managers, and to ensure their compliance with the criteria for maintaining this authorization. In Québec, under the Voluntary Retirement Savings Plan Act, a legal person that wishes to offer such a plan must first obtain authorization from the AMF to act as administrator of the plan and then must register its plan with the Régie des rentes du Québec, which is responsible for overseeing VRSPs.