Effective April 1, most mutual fund and investment dealers and those representing them will register with the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) instead of their provincial securities commission, after the securities regulatory authorities of nine provinces and territories delegated registration functions and powers to the self-regulator.
The move, they say, will support the streamlining of registration processes across Canada.
“Effective April 1, 2025, delegation orders issued by these members authorize CIRO to undertake the registration function for firms registered as, or applying for registration as investment dealers, mutual fund dealers and futures commission merchants (in Ontario) and for the individuals who act on their behalf,” the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced at the start of the month.
The Autorité des marchés financiers is expected to publish its delegation order in the coming weeks, with an expected effective date of July 1, 2025. Provinces which have not yet delegated their registration authority include Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia. These are expected to follow suit in due course, once necessary approvals are obtained.
A more effective framework
“The CSA’s decision to streamline registration through delegation supports our strategic objective to deliver a more effective registration framework,” Andrew J. Kriegler, president and CEO of CIRO said in a statement. Going forward, the securities commissions are instead expected to focus on enhanced CIRO oversight, regulatory policy, exemptive relief applications and novel issues.
“Firms and individuals of portfolio managers, restricted portfolio managers, investment fund managers, exempt market dealers, restricted dealers and scholarship plan dealers and, in Quebec, derivatives portfolio managers, would continue to register with and be overseen by their local securities regulator,” the CSA writes. “Specific to Ontario, commodity trading advisers, commodity trading counsels and commodity trading managers will continue to register with and be overseen by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).”
They add that no new information will be required from registrants under the new process.
