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January 2024 Advocacy Newsletter
Summary:
Happy New Year! After a much-welcome break, CAC is gearing up for a very busy 2024.
Our first major comment letter for the year will be on Canadian securities regulators’ proposed framework for the binding resolution of investor complaints by the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI). Under the status quo, OBSI can only offer recommendations for resolving investor complaints—recommendations that securities firms are free to ignore. We hope regulators will finalize these proposals as soon as possible, and that provinces and territories will enact the legislative amendments needed to give effect to them. Giving investors an accessible, impartial channel for hearing and resolving their complaints has long been a priority for CAC. While some may see reasons for even further delay on this initiative, I think investors have waited long enough.
Securities regulators increasingly are being asked to promote a range of objectives beyond investor protection, including fostering innovation, capital formation, and economic growth. There are also growing concerns that these new objectives are taking up disproportionate space on regulators’ policy agendas, leaving investor protection by the wayside. In 2024, I hope regulators will clarify their approach to prioritizing and balancing all of these objectives. There are no easy answers here, which is why I also hope stakeholders will have a meaningful opportunity to provide feedback on regulators’ approach, in public. CAC aims to be a part of this and other important regulatory conversations in the securities and broader financial sectors over the coming year.