As part of its annual review, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) conducted a comprehensive evaluation of its service commitments, including the temporary changes announced on December 7, 2021.
Extension of Temporary Service Commitments
The temporary service commitment changes that were announced by the OSC on December 7, 2021, and generally related to prospectus filings and applications for exemptive relief, have been extended to March 31, 2023, with the exception of service standard 3.9 Prospectus Amendments: Completion of Review, which has returned to the original 40 working day timeline that was in effect prior to December 7, 2021.
The OSC previously cited the extraordinary growth in Ontario's capital markets as the reason for the temporary extensions which were originally scheduled to end on June 30, 2022.
Updated Service Commitments
In addition to extending the temporary service commitments, the OSC announced changes to the following service standards, among others, effective July 1, 2022:
General questions or complaints
|
Commitment |
Previous Timeline |
Updated Timeline |
|
Response to written inquires or complaints received by e-mail, mail, fax, or online form |
Within 3 working days (target is 95% of all written inquiries and complaints received) |
Within 5 working days (target is 95% of all written inquiries and complaints received) |
Prospectus: Filing for a confidential prospectus pre-file, preliminary or pro forma
|
Commitment |
Previous Timeline |
Updated Timeline |
|
Issuing comment letters for confidential prospectus pre-file, long form prospectus or simplified prospectus |
Comment letter within 15 working days of the date of the preliminary receipt (for preliminary filings) and related materials in acceptable form (target is for 80% or more of all filings received) |
Comment letter within 15 days of the date of the preliminary receipt (for preliminary filings) or acknowledgement of receipt (confidential prospectus pre-file) and related materials in acceptable form (target is for 85% or more of all filings received) |
Prospectus Amendments: Filing an amendment to a preliminary or current prospectus
When filing an amendment to a prospectus after a final receipt has been issued by the OSC:
|
Commitment |
Previous Timeline |
Updated Timeline |
|
Comment letter for long form prospectus or simplified prospectus |
3 working days after the date that related materials are received in acceptable form (target is for 80% or more of all filings received) |
5 working days after the date that related materials are received in acceptable form (target is for 85% or more of all filings received) |
|
Comment letter for short form prospectus or shelf prospectus |
2 working days after the date that related materials are received in acceptable form (target is for 80% or more of all filings received) |
5 working days after the date that related materials are received in acceptable form (target is for 85% or more of all filings received) |
|
Providing decisions on amendment filings - Completion of Review |
Within 45 working days of the issuance of a receipt (for the preliminary filings) and receipt of related materials in acceptable form (target is for 80% or more of all routine filings received) |
Within 40 working days of the issuance of a receipt (for the preliminary filings) and receipt of related materials in acceptable form (target is for 85% or more of all routine filings received) |
As has previously been the case, novel and complex filings will not be subject to set timelines and will take longer for the OSC to review. However, the OSC has committed to providing regular touchpoints to advise with respect to progress.
Finally, in some cases, the service commitment timeline has not been extended but rather the proportion of filings that the OSC will aim to review within the set out timeline has been increased. Such changes were made in addition to the changes referenced above. For instance, the OSC previously targeted meeting its applicable service commitment for 80% of comment letters for short form prospectuses or shelf prospectuses. This target has now been increased to 90% in each case.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
