The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced the publication of its most recent summary report on July 27, designed to help registrants in the province comply with requirements under Ontario securities laws.
“The Compliance and Registrant Regulation Branch of the OSC is responsible for the registration and ongoing regulation of firms and individuals who are in the business of trading in, or advising on, securities or commodity futures and firms that manage investment funds in Ontario,” they write. “This annual report discusses important matters impacting registration, outcomes from compliance reviews, and areas of focus for the OSC’s compliance and registrant regulation staff in the coming fiscal year.”
The commission adds that in-person components have been resumed during compliance reviews and will be conducted at various stages of each review at either the registrant’s location or the OSC’s office. They also say that as the complexity of business models and products continues to increase, it has formed a new operational team to focus on specialized dealer business models such as derivatives dealers and restricted dealers.
OSC Staff Notice 33-755 Compliance and Registrant Regulation Branch Summary Report for Dealers, Advisers and Investment Fund Managers, also focuses on outreach, activities and guidance published, discusses the OSC’s conflicts of interest sweep and initiatives impacting registrants, including the total cost reporting (TCR) initiative, fee rule changes and the OSC’s views on dually registered firms.
Regarding client focused reforms (CFRs), the securities commission says the findings of its reviews will be published shortly, but adds, with emphasis, that it expects registrants to have taken steps to review all aspects of their operations to fully implement the CFRs. “As stated previously, if we do not see the intended outcomes, then further regulatory action may be required,” they state.
Going forward, the OSC says it intends to focus on a review of know-your-client (KYC) and product suitability to assess how effectively CFRs are being implemented. It plans to continue compliance reviews of high-risk firms and also continue compliance reviews of crypto-asset trading platforms.
