The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) recently released its annual Summary Report for Dealers, Advisors and Investment Fund Managers (Summary Report) for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Among other things, the Summary Report provides an overview of compliance initiatives conducted over the last year, as well as guidance intended to assist firms in meeting their regulator obligations.
Notably for this year, the Summary Report includes guidance specific to COVID-19 with respect to such issues as business continuity planning and whether a personal residence should be reported as a "business location" pursuant to National Instrument 33-109 Registration Information.
The Summary Report also discusses findings and provides guidance in respect of, among other things: (i) a "presence review" of firms based on their level of business activity in Canada; (ii) a review of the marketing practices of registrants for which the OSC is the principal regulator; (iii) a focused compliance review to assess firms' supervision of representatives' outside business activities; and (iv) a review of firms' websites to assess complaint procedures, which we discussed in an earlier post.
The Summary Report also provides highlights of investigations of conduct issues, including a summary of regulatory actions taken against firms. For more information, see OSC Staff Notice 33-752 Summary Report for Dealers, Advisers and Investment Fund Managers.
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