OSC Introduces New Policy Initiatives to Strengthen Enforcement

TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today a series of policy initiatives designed to further enhance the OSC’s enforcement regime for the benefit of investors and the capital markets:

New program for explicit “No-Enforcement Action” Agreements under which a party would explicitly not be subject to OSC enforcement action in exchange for self-reporting matters that may involve breaches of Ontario securities law or activities that would be considered contrary to the public interest, and for cooperating in an investigation.

New “No-Contest Settlement” Program under which a protective order could be made in the absence of a specific admission by the respondent of a breach of the Securities Act (Ontario).

Clarified process for self-reporting under the OSC's current credit for cooperation program to ensure that all parties are informed on how best to self-report and come forward with information.

Enhanced public disclosure of credit provided by OSC staff for cooperation to provide greater certainty of potential outcome for all parties that may consider self-reporting.

These enhancements have two goals. Firstly, they are expected to improve the information coming into the OSC in terms of quality, quantity and timeliness. Secondly, these tools leverage existing resources and allow staff to expedite the resolution of Commission enforcement matters.

“These new tools will have a direct impact on our ability to take decisive enforcement action in order to protect the public interest,” said Tom Atkinson, OSC Director of Enforcement. “They will allow us to effectively deliver on our commitments to investors and the market place, in a timely manner.”

In developing these policy initiatives, staff considered the current enforcement policies and practices of the Commission and those of other regulatory organizations. Staff also took in to account ongoing dialogue with investors, market participants and the securities litigation bar.

The OSC welcomes feedback on these policy initiatives. This feedback will help inform staff on these and future enforcement initiatives. The comment period on OSC Staff Notice 15-704 Proposed Enforcement Initiatives is open until December 20, 2011.

 

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