The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) are considering whether to legislate best-interest standards for retail investment dealers and advisers. The standard would create a legal requirement that advisers and dealers must act in the best interests of their clients. It would be functionally equivalent to fiduciary duties described in common law and would apply when advisers or dealers give advice to retail clients. In a recent consultation paper, the CSA, which represents provincial regulators in Canada's decentralized system, explained that the duty to act in a client's best interest would require advisers and dealers (the fiduciaries) to ensure the following: Client interests are paramount: Fiduciaries cannot balance the interests of themselves or their employers against those of the client, if doing so would compromise the client's interests in any way. Conflicts of interest are to be scrupulously avoided: If actual or potential conflicts of interest are unavoidable, then
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