Finance committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Ian Russell. I've come before the committee many times, but this is the first time I've been here in my capacity as president and chief executive officer of the Investment Industry Association of Canada to talk to you on the

Finance committee  I'll take a stab at it. Ms. Amsden talked about how these things will benefit lower-income Canadians, in distinction from RRSPs, because of low incomes and the inability to use the deductions to save. But the other benefit these instruments have is the flexibility surrounding t

Finance committee  Yes, it is pretty much similar to an RRSP.

Finance committee  The point here on the administrative side is that there are some requirements, oddly, that are a little more complicated than for RRSPs. For example, it's not clear that there will be an annual reporting process in part, which will—

Finance committee  As the RRSP has.

Finance committee  Yes. What we're aiming at with those recommendations—and most of it is to synchronize it with the RRSP structures—is to reduce the administrative costs as much as possible.

Finance committee  Well, there could be commissions earned on the transactions in the account completely analogous with either RRSPs or normal securities accounts. The point we were making was that we'd like to see a structure that didn't require a trustee relationship, because it isn't necessary a

Finance committee  Yes, but they would have a balanced portfolio, which--

Finance committee  But most middle-income Canadians would have that kind of a balanced account. So, yes, you're right--that would be the vast majority, I would think.

Finance committee  Well, it would be some of them through mutual fund investments, for example.

Finance committee  You'd go to a bank maybe.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Rajotte. Good morning to all committee members. Good morning. My name is Ian Russell. I appreciate this opportunity this morning to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance to participate in your discussion on an assessment of th

Finance committee  I'll take a run at the question. I think the debate over mark-to-market is one dealing with the pro-cyclicality of mark-to-market, which is the point you made. In up markets, you're marking up the assets, so you're encouraging a lot more activity in the financial sector and the

Finance committee  Yes, I'd be pleased to answer that question. I'll start by saying that regulatory regimes around the world are in the process of reform. We've talked a bit about that, and you're exploring that in the context of ratings. It's my view that for us to embark on vigorous comprehens

Finance committee  —is I think a very important one, and it often gets missed in the debate. What we're finding in Canada, really, is an inability to implement policy quickly. We cannot implement the kinds of regulatory reforms we need fast enough. The cause, in my view, is a consensus-driven appro