Agency and the Trading Services Relationship
Creating the relationship
Agency arises when a client authorizes a licensee to act on the client's behalf. In BC, the relationship is documented in a written service agreement, and the brokerage - not the individual licensee - is the agent. Candidates must know the duties owed to clients (loyalty, confidentiality, full disclosure, obedience to lawful instructions, accounting) and the reduced duties owed to unrepresented parties (honesty, disclosure of material facts, fairness, no misrepresentation).
Agency models
Understand designated agency, where the brokerage appoints individual licensees to represent each client and information is not shared within the brokerage beyond what is permitted. Understand limited dual agency, which requires disclosure and informed written consent, and the prohibition on disclosing one client's confidential information to the other. Know when an agency relationship ends (completion, expiry, mutual agreement, revocation, death or bankruptcy) and the ongoing duty of confidentiality after termination.
Traps
A frequent trap is the assumption that a buyer working with a licensee is automatically a client. Without a written service agreement, the buyer may be an unrepresented party receiving assistance. Another trap is treating "customer" and "client" as interchangeable, or believing confidentiality ends when the agreement expires. Questions also probe remuneration: a licensee may be paid by either party with disclosure and consent, but must not accept undisclosed compensation from an unrepresented party.
Rule of thumb
Ask who signed a service agreement with the brokerage. That person is the client and receives full fiduciary duties; everyone else receives the lesser statutory duties.