Jun 30, 2020 | Client-Focused Reforms (CFRs), Regulatory Compliance
A. Priorities for the Coming Year On June 25, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) published its annual Statement of Priorities (SOP). As we mentioned in our April bulletin, COVID-19 and the related market uncertainty caused the OSC to forego its usual substantive...
Jun 30, 2020 | Regulatory Compliance
Earlier this month, the Federal Court of Appeal (Court) dismissed CompuFinder’s appeal of two related compliance and enforcement decisions by the Canadian Radio-Television and Communications Commission (CRTC) under Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). The CRTC had...
May 29, 2020 | Corporate Finance, Corporate Law, COVID-19, Investment Funds, Regulatory Compliance
On May 20, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued substantially harmonized blanket orders giving investment funds and other issuers temporary relief from certain regulatory and filing obligations. The conditions of relief are similar to the blanket orders...
May 29, 2020 | Investment Funds, Regulatory Compliance
Last November, we wrote about the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) report Reducing Regulatory Burden in Ontario’s Capital Markets. On May 27, the OSC published a progress report (Report) on these initiatives. Of the 107 initiatives described in the original report,...
May 29, 2020 | COVID-19, News, Regulatory Compliance
During the Spring Regulatory and Compliance Webinar organized by the Portfolio Management Association of Canada (PMAC) on May 27, a member of the Compliance and Registrant Regulation Branch (Branch) at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) updated attendees on the...
May 29, 2020 | COVID-19, Investment Funds, Regulatory Compliance
On May 12, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) issued guidance (Guidance) for mortgage administrators (Administrators) and mortgage brokers (Brokers) regarding their disclosure and other obligations in respect of mortgage-based investments...
May 29, 2020 | COVID-19, News, Regulatory Compliance
In March, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced that due to COVID-19, it was postponing the 2020 Risk Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ) cycle until further notice. On May 28, chief compliance officers (CCOs) of registrants were notified that they will receive...
May 29, 2020 | Regulatory Compliance
On May 11, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) published its 2019 Enforcement Report (Report). Although the Report will be of greatest interest to IIROC members, we think that other registered firms will find certain parts of the Report...
May 29, 2020 | COVID-19, FAQs, Regulatory Compliance
National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations (NI 31-103) prohibits an associate advising representative (AAR) from advising on securities unless that advice has been pre-approved by an advising representative (AR)...
May 29, 2020 | Regulatory Compliance
In January, we published an FAQ discussing the risks that advising representatives face if they accept an appointment as an executor of a client’s estate. We noted that securities regulators have concerns about the potential conflicts of interest arising in such...
May 29, 2020 | Corporate Finance, Corporate Law
On May 26, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) published undertakings (Undertakings) from two issuers who agreed to certain controls, training and other requirements to ensure the issuers’ compliance with National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions (NI...
Apr 30, 2020 | Client-Focused Reforms (CFRs), COVID-19, Regulatory Compliance
As we discussed in our October 2019 special bulletin, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have finalized their client-focused reforms (CFRs) to National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations (NI 31-103)....
Apr 30, 2020 | COVID-19, Regulatory Compliance
April 15, the Compliance and Registrant Regulation (CRR) Branch at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) emailed registrants to indicate that it had enhanced and clarified its processes to lift close supervision and strict supervision terms and conditions (T&Cs)...