The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced June 29 that it has published its 2021-2022 Statement of Priorities, outlining priority areas the OSC will focus on in the coming fiscal year.
“Since publishing the draft 2021-2022 Statement of Priorities for comment (in November 2020), new priorities have been added to reflect the OSC’s role in developing and implementing the policy direction provided in the 2021 Ontario Budget. This includes supporting the Ministry of Finance in drafting the Capital Markets Act, integrating the additional mandates of fostering capital formation and competition into OSC activities, mandating enhanced disclosure of material environmental, social and governance (ESG) information by public companies and integrating structural governance changes to the OSC as set out ins the forthcoming Securities Commission Act,” the OSC said in a statement announcing the publication’s release.
The amended statement of priorities includes a summary of comments made when the priorities were first published in draft form back in November 2020, and sets out its four strategic goals on which the OSC plans to focus its resources in 2021 and 2022. Its four goals include promoting confidence in Ontario’s capital markets, reducing regulatory burden, facilitating financial innovation and strengthening the OSC’s organizational foundation.
The OSC’s priorities also include efforts to strengthen oversight of crypto asset trading platforms and other dealers and to develop an enhanced framework for reducing regulatory burden. Changes include final amendments to ban the use of deferred sales charge (DSC) commissions when selling mutual funds. During the year, the OSC further plans to support the implementation of client focused reforms (CFRs), implement rules to prohibit DSC payment options, and publish a position paper on self-regulatory organizations in July 2021.
