Overview of our Services
We live and breathe registrant regulation
Do you have questions about your firm’s ongoing obligations under Canadian securities laws? Are you looking to leverage your existing team or fill in temporary gaps by outsourcing specific general counsel or compliance functions to a law firm that deeply understands your business? Are you planning to start or grow an investment management or wealth management business? Do you know what you need to do, if a member, to stay in compliance with the rules and expectations of Canada’s new self-regulatory organization — the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO)? Do you need legal or regulatory compliance advice about how you manage, distribute and operate your sponsored investment vehicles? AUM Law has the expertise, experience and connections to help you efficiently navigate Canada’s securities regulatory landscape.
AUM Law has been associated with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) since May 2021 and is integrated with BLG’s suite of alternative legal services: BLG Beyond. If a legal or regulatory issue arises that falls outside the scope of AUM Law’s services, we can seamlessly help to source the relevant expertise. In addition, BLG Beyond offers many alternative legal services important to a registrant’s business, including sophisticated consulting services for transformation initiatives and intellectual property advice to help clients navigate and leverage IP assets.
Our regulatory compliance legal and consulting services include:
- Drafting compliance policies and procedures manuals and policies on specific topics
- Drafting client documents, including account agreements, KYC/suitability questionnaires, conflicts disclosure and relationship disclosure information
- Advising on ongoing obligations as a registrant under Canadian securities law, including the enhanced know-your-client (KYC), know-your-product (KYP), suitability and conflict of interest rules set out in the Client Focused Reforms (CFRs) that came into force in 2021
- Performing regulatory compliance gap analyses and developing implementation and remediation plans
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- Providing training seminars on a wide range of topics, including the CFRs and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements
- Undertaking 2-year AML effectiveness reviews and training
- Undertaking targeted compliance risk assessments (aka “mock audits”)
- Guiding clients through regulatory compliance audits and other regulatory sweeps and examinations and assisting with responses to the regulators
- Advising on initial registration requirements and guiding clients through the process
- Assisting with registration of firms and individual registrants and permitted individuals and keeping registration information up to date
- Advising on marketing and sales communications, and carrying out reviews of marketing on a one-off or on-going basis
- Ongoing operational and compliance assistance for private investment funds, mortgage investment entities, and their managers
- Advising on, and assisting with, compliance with regulation relating to employee personal trading
- Advising on ongoing CIRO compliance obligations
- Assisting with remediation of registrant misconduct matters, including liaising with our colleagues in BLG Disputes group, as needed
- Filing reports on NRD, SEDI and SEDAR+, including for exempt trade distributions
- Supplementing in-house teams on an ongoing, temporary or project-oriented basis
Our Approach
AUM Law offers practical, cost-effective legal and consulting advice on securities regulatory compliance matters. We focus on the Canadian investment and wealth management sector, and we have deep expertise in the legal and regulatory issues relevant to firms operating in this industry.
Our team-based approach, fixed-fee annual compliance support plans and other fixed-fee services, extensive experience engaging with securities regulators, and connections with BLG and other service providers in the industry help clients navigate the ever-evolving securities regulatory environment with confidence.
AUM Law has been associated with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) since May 2021 and is integrated with BLG’s suite of alternative legal services: BLG Beyond. If a legal or regulatory issue arises that falls outside the scope of AUM Law’s services, we can seamlessly help to source the relevant expertise. In addition, BLG Beyond offers many alternative legal services important to a registrant’s business, including sophisticated consulting services for transformation initiatives and intellectual property advice to help clients navigate and leverage IP assets.
Regulatory Compliance Insights
CIRO’s Ambitious Three-Year Strategic Plan
Introduction On April 11, 2024, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) released its three-year Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan covers the period of April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2027. CIRO’s CEO Andrew Kriegler states, “The Strategic Plan acknowledges...
Breaking Down FSRA’s 2024-27 Annual Business Plan
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) recently released its 2024-27 Annual Business Plan (Plan) setting out its core strategy for the next three fiscal years. The Plan incorporates FSRA’s priorities and objectives, risk identification,...
Phase 3 of CIRO’s Rule Consolidation Project
On April 18, 2024, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) published for comment Phase 3 of its Rule Consolidation Project proposals. The objective of Phase 3 is to adopt rules that are common to the IDPC and MFD Rules and have been assessed as not...