This profile is aligned with industry best practices and provides the knowledge and skills applied by advisors. It also drives the pre-requisite requirements, education and ongoing maintenance requirements. In 2019, the Ontario government announced that it would introduce legislation to limit the use of the titles of “Financial Planner” and “Financial Advisor” in Ontario to individuals who have obtained a credential from a credentialing body. Individuals from a departmental financial policy group may contact Financial Management Enquiries for interpretation of this guide. Transaction authority is the legal authority to enter into contracts, including acquisition card purchases, and to sign off on legal entitlements. The chart is to be presented to a new deputy head for information purposes within 30 days of his or her appointment.
Generic valuation tools do not provide the authority to dispose of any documents, whether through destruction, sending them to another institution, or transfer to Library and Archives Canada. The authority to dispose is granted through a disposition instrument signed by the Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Electronic authorization can be completed through protected access to the financial system, which records the person’s name and the date of the authorization. The department should define the terms “high-risk payment,” “medium-risk payment” and “low-risk payment” to ensure consistency across the department.
If the results indicate that an acceptable error rate is being exceeded, the department can reasonably conclude that the account verification process is not being undertaken as expected and that corrective action is required. This might lead to a review of an additional sample to determine the types of transactions that need to be subject to a full prepayment review. This is an example of a memorandum of understanding that could be used by a department when financial authorities are to be delegated to another department. The memorandum is a simple explanation of the delegation stipulating the names of the department, which positions are authorized to approve expenditures and make payment on behalf of the departments for mutually agreed upon activities. The memorandum includes which expenditures can be delegated, for example, travel, hospitality and training. The payment authorization process should ensure that all high-risk transactions are reviewed before payment to ensure that the requirements of the section 34 certification authority have been met.
Additional oversight or other control measures should be documented, along with the reasons why the segregation of duties is not possible. When delegations are appropriately implemented, employees are empowered to deliver effectively on day-to-day operations and transactional issues. Decisions that involve higher risk or high visibility can be referred to more senior officials. CSI holds itself to the highest standards of honesty, transparency and fairness when dealing with clients, students, designation holders and regulators.
We are committed to ensuring impartiality in carrying out our DFSA™ certification activities (e.g., certification examination results and other decisions related to granting designations). Article 121 of the UAE Constitution enabled the Federation to create Financial Free Zones in the Emirates and, most importantly, to exclude the application of certain Federal laws in these Financial Free Zones. A number of laws created the DIFC and the necessary centre bodies, which include the DFSA. It operates only within the special economic zone and is tasked with providing a regulatory environment of international standards.
The authority to delegate to other organizations does not include the transfer of functions that result from changes to the machinery of government. In such cases, the transfer of authorities and functions are subject to the prerogative of the prime minister. Authorities can be exercised on an acting basis (subject to restrictions) if the person acting has properly been delegated these authorities in writing and has fulfilled all the necessary requirements of the directive. The person who has the highest authority within the organization retains the responsibility and authority, even when they choose to delegate this authority to staff. For example, an assistant deputy minister (ADM) has the highest authority for his or her branch, a director general has the highest authority for his or her sector, and so on.
The date the authority is provided and the authority’s signature, either physically or electronically, are to be recorded. Such information increases the department’s ability to authenticate the person’s delegated authority. Delegation charts, supporting notes and other delegation documents such as specimen signature cards should be regularly reviewed, as determined by the department, to ensure that they reflect the department’s operating risks and structure. When there is a legal or policy requirement for a limit on a transaction, regardless of whether the limit is departmental or centrally imposed, the dollar limit should be shown in the delegation chart. Alternatively, an indication of a restricted authority with further details on the restriction should be provided in the supporting notes.
Apart from internal services listed in subsection 29.2(4) of the FAA, a department may provide government-wide services to other departments when authorized by legislation or by other formal authorities (for example, information technology services provided by Shared Services Canada). Similar to internal support services, the delegation of authority between departments may be required and performed by the minister or the deputy of the minister. Segregation of duties is a critical internal control to effectively safeguard the department’s assets, reduce the risk of error, and minimize the potential for fraud.
After the authority has been formally delegated to the position through the delegation chart, the individual in that position should be informed in writing by their supervisor. The delegation is usually done using a specimen signature card, as it identifies the position that has been granted authority. The person holding the position then receives the powers assigned to the position according to the delegation chart. However, that person cannot be granted delegated authority until activtrades review he or she has completed the required training, as required by the directive.
Written agreements that define the scope of services, accountabilities and service standards are to be established and approved by departmental representatives involved in these arrangements. As part of this process, spending and financial authorities may need to be delegated by the minister or by the deputy of the organization that receives services. This delegation ensures that departmental officials from the organization that is providing services can exercise the necessary spending and financial authorities. More information on services between departments is provided in the Directive on Charging and Special Financial Authorities.
These exceptions recognize that a department may not always be able to segregate duties for transaction authority and certification authority, and may use compensating controls to ensure the integrity of the payment. Please refer to section 3.6 of this guide for more information on the segregation of duties. Each department decides which positions are to be included within the generic titles and determines who will approve the list of equivalent positions. It is common practice for the approval of equivalent positions to be delegated to the CFO or the deputy CFO. A table of equivalent positions can be included in the supporting notes to the delegation chart.
When necessary, departmental training may be provided in addition to that offered by the Canada School of Public Service. Commitment controls are important management practices that are integral to sound appropriation control, forecasting, and allocation and reallocation of program resources. It is advisable that the recording of, and reporting on, commitments are standardized throughout the department.
Figure 5.1 is a repetition of Figure 2 but will focus on Expenditure initiation authority. The box titled expenditure initiation authority is circled in red to highlight it as it will be discussed in section 4.1. Minor changes to the supporting notes, as determined by the department, could be approved at a lower level of authority, and this process may be documented velocity trade in the supporting notes. When the deputy head has the status of the deputy of the minister and is the appropriate signing authority, the directive requires the department to provide an updated chart to the minister for information purposes.
At the CSI’s request, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) removed the DFSA as an approved credential, the regulator said in a release on Thursday. The DFSA administers the Regulatory Law 2004, which is the cornerstone legislation of the regulatory regime. The Law establishes the constitution of the DFSA and enables the creation of the regulatory framework within which entities may be licensed, authorised, registered and supervised by the DFSA. The Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick (FCNB) is seeking public comment on potential approaches to the regulation of the titles “Financial Planner” and “Financial Advisor” in New Brunswick.
