Dealers, Advisers and Investment Fund Managers
OSC Compliance Reviews
The OSC conducts compliance reviews of advisers, exempt market dealers, scholarship plan dealers and investment fund managers to monitor whether they are complying with Ontario securities law.
OSC staff conduct on-site and desk reviews. We may also review a firm as part of a “sweep” that focuses on a particular topic of interest or issue, or if we receive complaints about the firm or a referral from another OSC branch or regulator. Firms may also be randomly selected for a review.
The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) conducts compliance reviews of the dealing operations of investment dealers and futures commission merchants. The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) conducts compliance reviews of the dealing operations of mutual fund dealers. If a firm is registered in multiple categories, it may be subject to a compliance review by both the OSC and the MFDA or IIROC.
How we select firms for review
The OSC typically uses a risk assessment model to select firms for compliance reviews. We send out a risk assessment questionnaire periodically to gather information about a firm’s business operations. The information we receive is used to apply a risk ranking to a firm. This allows us to allocate resources more effectively and efficiently by targeting firms with higher risk rankings.
For more information:
- 2011 Compliance Risk Assessment Questionnaire (for reference purposes only) in PDF
- 2011 Compliance Risk Assessment Questionnaire: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and User Guide in PDF
- 2009 Compliance Risk Assessment Questionnaire Limited Market Dealers (for reference purposes only) in PDF
- 2009 Compliance Risk Assessment Questionnaire Limited Market Dealers: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and User Guide in PDF
- 2008 Compliance Risk Questionnaire Advisors (ICPM) (for reference purposes only) in PDF
- 2008 Compliance Risk Questionnaire Fund Managers (for reference purposes only) in PDF
- 2008 Compliance Risk Assessment Questionnaire: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and User Guide in PDF
