As reported in our November 2021 Bulletin, the CSA’s rules on titles for registered individuals who interact with clients changed effective December 31, 2021 as part of the client-focused reforms to National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations (NI 31-103). In connection with those changes, several large financial institutions applied for exemptions from the requirements in connection with their businesses. The Ontario Securities Commission (the OSC) granted a number of such exemptions on December 31, 2021, generally with the following facts and conditions, amongst others: 1) the restricted titles include: “Senior Vice President”, “Vice President”, “Director”, and “Managing Director”; 2) the restricted titles are only used with clients who are non-individual “permitted clients” or non-individual “institutional clients” (as defined by IIROC Rule 1201); and 3) without the exemption, the firms would face significant operational and human resource challenges in complying with the rule on titles in section 13.18 of NI 31-103.
If you would like to discuss the exemptions in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact any member of our team.
January 31, 2022