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September 2024 Advocacy Newsletter
Summary:
We enter into the fall season with substantial uncertainty about the make-up of the senior team at our largest capital markets regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). Back in March, the regulator announced the departures of several of its top executives as part of a “strategic evolution,” coinciding with the launch of a new strategic plan outlining the regulator’s long-term policy and operational direction. At time of writing, however, the regulator had yet to appoint replacements who could contribute to implementing this plan.
Most prominently, the OSC has yet to name a permanent head of enforcement—one who can deliver its strategic plan’s promise to crack down on bad actors and misconduct. Its new office of registration, inspections and examinations, tasked with oversight of portfolio managers, investment fund managers, and certain categories of securities dealers, also lacks permanent leadership. In addition, the OSC has yet to name new heads of its Innovation Office and its Investor Office.
Hopefully, my concerns about these vacancies will soon prove to be overblown. Maybe the OSC is well on its way towards filling these positions, and we’ll start to see some announcements in the coming weeks. But if we don’t see progress, we might need to start asking why the regulator is having trouble filling out its executive team, and what this might mean for its ability to continue delivering on its mandate.