Insurance agents, financial advisors may be considered telemarketers: CRTC

Canada’s telecommunications regulator has updated its telemarketing rules to extend to the financial and insurance sectors.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a bulletin stating that unsolicited telemarketing rules apply to financial advisors and insurance agents (referred to by the CRTC collectively as “advisors”.)

In 2008, the CRTC exempted advisors from telemarketing rules and last year, the body clarified the position, explicitly saying that insurance advisors could contact existing clients via unsolicited telephone calls.

However, now after a public consultation, the CRTC has rules that not all telecommunications by advisors can be exempt, since “existing clients may not expect to be called in all circumstances.”

The CRTC’s bulletin says:

The Commission notes that investment or financial advisors can still initiate telemarketing telecommunications to existing clients who are registered on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) pursuant to the existing business relationship exemption, but will have to abide by the Telemarketing Rules and the Automatic Dialing-Announcing Device (ADAD Rules), as applicable.

The Commission notes that investment or financial advisors may also make telecommunications to prospective or former clients for the purpose of selling or promoting a product or service. The Commission considers that, in these circumstances, consumers would not expect to be contacted by the advisor. As such, these telecommunications would constitute telemarketing and would therefore be subject to the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules, including the National DNCL Rules.

To read the full bulletin, click here: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-600.htm

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