Registration opens for OSC roundtables

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced its plans on Friday for next month’s roundtables on ways to curb the costs of regulatory compliance.

Last month, the OSC hosted its first industry roundtable on regulatory burden reduction. On Friday, it opened registration and announced its plans for two more open discussion sessions, which are slated for May 6 and May 27.

The May 6 meeting, which will focus on registration-related issues, compliance and investment funds, will be hosted by OSC vice-chair Tim Moseley.

Topics for the session include the relationship between regulatory requirements and guidance, and how guidance is used in compliance and prospectus reviews; streamlining interactions that involve multiple regulators; and regulatory data collection.

It will also consider certain specific issues that have been raised by the industry, including the requirements for reporting outside business activities, the use of Fund Facts documents and a discussion on the new alternative mutual fund regime.

The session on May 27 will be hosted by the OSC’s other vice-chair, Grant Vingoe.

It will look at issues involving the trading rules, issuers and derivatives markets, while covering some of the same topics, such as streamlining reviews, reducing regulatory duplication and easing filing requirements for trade reporting, exempt market reporting and continuous disclosure.

It will also examine the prospectus review process, electronic document delivery and upgrading both the OSC website and various national systems.

“These roundtables will be working meetings at which senior OSC staff will discuss how the OSC is considering the evaluation and prioritization of the burden reduction opportunities identified during the consultation process,” the regulator said in a statement.

“These will be collaborative discussions that will allow market participants and investor representatives the opportunity to provide real time feedback to the OSC,” it added.

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