The Ontario Securities Commission today released its draft Statement of Priorities for the financial year ending March 31, 2013. Today's statement follows last month's publication of the OSC's three-year strategic plan. According to the OSC, the regulator has five regulatory goals for the upcoming fiscal year, namely:
- delivering responsive regulation, which includes improving the proxy voting system, developing a consultation paper addressing issues associated with market data in a multi-marketplace environment, and considering alternate capital raising exemptions in addition to the accredited investor and $150,000 exemption;
- delivering effective enforcement and compliance by, for example, conducting more targeted compliance reviews;
- delivering strong investor protection, which notably includes re-evaluating the client-adviser relationship to consider whether an explicit statutory fiduciary duty or other standards should apply in Ontario;
- running a modern, accountable and efficient organization; and
- supporting and promoting financial stability.
The OSC is accepting comments on its Statement of Priorities until May 29. For more information, see OSC Notice 11-766. For the OSC's 2011-2012 Statement of Priorities, see our blog post of June 17, 2011.
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