OSC postpones in-person hearings, compliance reviews

To address the Covid-19 outbreak, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is suspending in-person hearings until the end of April, along with a variety of other operational changes.

Canada’s largest securities regulator announced that on-site compliance reviews and its planned risk assessment questionnaire (RAQ) have been postponed “until further notice.” The OSC won’t be holding any in-person hearings until April 30 at the earliest.

In the meantime, the regulator’s Office of the Secretary will contact participants in hearings that are scheduled before April 30 to determine whether they can take place by teleconference, or in writing, the commission said.

“Normal-course registration and compliance activities will continue as planned, however we will be flexible on deadlines for information,” the OSC said.

Consultations with advisory committees, market participants and investors will take place via teleconference.

Other in-person events, such as industry outreach and OSC LaunchPad information days, have been cancelled and planned webinars will be re-scheduled.

The commission’s contact centre remains operational with “essential staffing,” the OSC said, adding that most OSC staff are now working from home and external access to the OSC’s offices is being limited.

“We are aware that many market participants have also started to work remotely and understand that this will make business more challenging. We support your efforts as we all weather these changes and will be flexible in our regulatory expectations during this difficult time,” the commission said.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.