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On July 14, 2016, the Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") launched its new whistleblower program (the "Program"). The Program is set out in OSC Policy 15-601 (the "Policy").
The OSC designed the Program to encourage individuals to report information on securities-related misconduct, including in the areas of accounting and financial reporting, insider trading, market manipulation and general misrepresentation in corporate disclosure.
Unlike a similar program recently launched by Quebec's securities regulator, the Program includes a financial incentive. Such whistleblower awards under the Program can reach up to $5 million for tips that result in a final order for penalties that total $1 million or more. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") also launched a whistleblower program in 2011. The SEC program generated more than 3,600 tips in 2014 and paid out US$50 million to whistleblowers.
For full details of the OSC's Program, please see " OSC Releases New Policy for Whistleblower Program for Public Comment," by Tom Fenton of Aird & Berlis LLP, published on November 12, 2015.
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