MARTEL, JEAN

About

Jean Martel is counsel at Morency in matters of national and international securities, financial institutions and financial products and services.

He also provides advisory services to the following categories of financial institutions, or to the business partners and clients of these institutions, in particular with respect to business strategies, governance and compliance: 

• financial regulators
• self-regulatory organizations in insurance, securities and mutual funds
• banks
• insurers
• trust companies
• financial services cooperatives
• securities brokers
• financial services firms
• labour-sponsored funds
• scholarships
• clearing and settlement systems for payments or transactions in securities or derivatives
• and other similar entities.

From 1981 to 1988, Jean Martel headed the legal services of the Department of Finance, where he acted as Chief Financial Law Advisor to the Government of Québec and had legal responsibility for the borrowing and securities issues of the province and its Crown corporations, as well as privatizations and project financings involving them. 

As Assistant Deputy Minister of Finance of Québec and Deputy Minister responsible for the financial sector, from 1988 to 1999, he was responsible for the development of public policy and legislation relating to financial institutions (including insurance companies, trust and savings companies and financial cooperatives), securities, financial services and labour-sponsored funds. As such, he has led the preparation of numerous policy statements and legislation concerning these sectors. 

From 1995 to 1999, he was President of the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec (CVMQ). He has actively contributed to the work of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the forum that brings together the various securities commissions in Canada, as well as to the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), a regulatory harmonization organization that relies on a network of some 200 financial regulators from 90 countries. He had been Vice-Chair of IOSCO since 1998 and was considered for the position of Chair when he returned to private legal practice in 1999.

In 2010, the Quebec Bar awarded Jean Martel the title of Advocatus Emeritus (Ad.E).

Social and Professionnal activities

Past Experience

• 1988 to 1994: Member of the Board of Directors of the Régie de l'assurance-dépôts du Québec and the Groupement des assureurs automobiles
• 1995 to 1997: Member of the Board of Directors of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada (IDA)   
• 2001 to 2004: Member of the Board of Directors of State Street Global Advisors, Ltd.
• 2006 to 2013: Member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)
• 2012 to 2017: Member of the Board of Directors of Oceanic Iron Ore Corp.

 Current corporate activities

• Member of the Board of Directors of TMX Group Ltd., now the parent public company of Canada's major stock exchanges and, among other entities, of the Alpha Exchange, the Canadian Depository for Securities Limited (CDS), the Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation (CDCC), and Trayport.
• Member of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Stock Exchange (Canada's senior equity market) since 1999
• Member of the Board of Directors of TSX Venture Exchange, Canada's market for small and mid-cap companies.
• Member of the Board of Directors of the Montréal Exchange, Canada's standardized derivatives market
• Chair of the Rules and Policies Committees of the Montréal Exchange, TSX and Alpha Exchange
• Chairman of the Independent Review Committee of the Investment Funds of the Quebec Bar Association
• Chair of Disciplinary Hearing Panels of the Investment Dealers Regulatory Organization of Canada.

 Other Activities

Jean Martel is a popular speaker for his vision in the regulation of financial institutions, financial markets and their participants.

In Canada and elsewhere in the world, he has been invited to speak to groups of high-level regulators and financial experts, including those convened under the aegis of public or private entities such as the United Nations, the Bank of Canada, Queen's University, the École des HEC or the Institut de Haute Finance de la République Française.