The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) is behind the Canadian Securities Administrators’ (CSA)  plans to develop a new, integrated national information and filing system, saying its potential benefits to all stakeholders are “clear and significant.”

The CSA had sent out a request for submissions earlier this year on its proposal to replace its national records filing systems. These include:  existing CSA national systems such as the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR), the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI) and the National Registration Database (NRD), as well as various local records filing systems.  They would be replaced by an integrated system to be called the Renewed System.

IFIC encourages CSA to keep close ties with industry

In its submission, IFIC encouraged the CSA to collaborate with all industry stakeholders. The industry, it said, can provide input that will add significant value at each stage, beginning at the systems specifications and development stages, through to user testing prior to launch. 
 
It also urged regulators to build functionality that gives market participants access to the information and data they are required to file. This would cut down on the need for a number of manual data entries and improve compliance by enabling firms to leverage this data in their business operations and compliance supervision activities. 
 
“Close collaboration with industry stakeholders will help deliver a new system that is useful to both regulators and market participants,” said Paul Bourque, president and CEO of IFIC. “A renewed system that facilitates the efficient, two-way exchange of information and provides market participants with ongoing access to their data will enhance compliance and ease the regulatory burden.”