Mutual Fund Dealer Continuing Education Program – CIRO Staff Review of Accreditation of Continuing Education Activities
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Executive Summary
CIRO Staff conducted a review of accreditation of continuing education (CE) activities recognized under the Mutual Fund Dealer (MFD) CE program. These accreditations were completed by MFD members and third-party accreditors (collectively, the accreditors) for the period from December 1, 2021 to May 31, 2023.
This Notice outlines some of the best practices we noted. We encourage accreditors to review and consider the guidance. We will continue to assess accreditation of CE activities recognized under the MFD CE program in future reviews.
Relevant Rule
Part E of MFD Rule 900 CE Requirements requires that
- All accreditations use standard evaluation procedures in accordance with the stipulated criteria
- For member self-accreditations, members must maintain evidence of the CE activity in sufficient detail to evidence compliance with this requirement
- When the eligibility period expires1 or there is a material change to the CE activity that a member provides and the member intends to continue to offer the CE activity, the member must either re-perform self-accreditation or obtain accreditation from accreditors recognized by CIRO.
General Observations
Standard Evaluation Procedures
Accreditors with effective practices that comply with Part E of MFD Rule 900
- have standard templates and procedures to record the assessment completed for each criterion set out under Part E of MFD Rule 900
- have comprehensive evaluation procedures that contain guidance beyond replicating the criteria set out in Part E of MFD Rule 900
- have guidance that includes examples of appropriate topic areas that would meet the related minimum standards set out under Part C of MFD Rule 900.
Accreditation of CE Activities
Accreditors are maintaining evidence of accreditation approval, including the number and type of component credits of accredited CE content that a CE activity has been approved for and resources and materials provided to participants.
Accreditors are generally also maintaining evidence of their determination of the topic areas covered by the CE activity. Accreditors with effective practices document the specific topic areas covered and the length of time each identified topic area is covered to support their determination of the number and type of component credits that a CE activity has been approved for.
Resources
MFD CE Program: Accreditation Guide
- 1CE activities are assigned an eligibility period not longer than two years from the date of accreditation.
23-0159
Type: Administrative Bulletin >
General
Distribute internally to
Internal Audit
Legal and Compliance
Registration
Operations
Retail
Rulebook connection
MFDR