The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) published proposed amendments (Proposed Amendments) to British Columbia Instrument 13-502 Electronic Filing of Reports of Exempt Distribution that would require investment fund issuers to use BCSC eServices when submitting Form 45-106F1s filed on an annual basis (currently these annual filings are submitted as paper filings to the BCSC).  The Proposed Amendments would allow payments to be made through BCSC eServices or by cheque. The Proposed Amendments will result in…

The Ontario Securities Commission released OSC Staff Notice 33-749 Annual Summary Report for Dealers, Advisers and Investment Fund Managers on August 23, 2018 (Staff Notice). The Staff Notice included, at Part 1.3, a review of the recent activities of the OSC LaunchPad.  The LaunchPad is actively engaged with novel fintech businesses providing support in navigating regulatory requirements.  The Staff Notice highlighted the following key accomplishments of the OSC LaunchPad in fiscal 2017-2018: 242 Meetings with…

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published amendments (Amendments) to National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions and CSA Staff Notice 45-308 Guidance for Preparing and Filing Reports of Exempt Distribution under 45-106 to change the information required within Form 45-106F1 Report of Exempt Distribution (Report). The Amendments provide more flexibility regarding the certification requirement, streamline the information required to be gathered by filers and address certain concerns raised by foreign dealers and Canadian institutional investors.  The main…

The Ontario Securities Commission released OSC Staff Notice 33-749 – Annual Summary Report for Dealers, Advisers and Investment Fund Managers on August 23, 2018 (OSC Staff Notice). In the OSC Staff Notice, OSC staff identified that some investment fund managers (IFMs) have outsourced fund administration functions (including fund accounting and transfer agency) to related parties.  Under National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations, IFMs are required to establish a system of…

On June 28, 2018, the Investor Office of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) published a report entitled “Taking Caution: Financial Consumers and the Cryptoasset Sector”. The report summarizes the results of a survey, conducted in March 2018, of more than 2,500 Ontarians aged 18 and older. Cryptoasset Ownership The report describes that 5% of Ontarians currently own cryptoassets (or, as the survey referenced, cyrptocurrencies). This translates into approximately 500,000 Ontarians. Furthermore, an additional 4% of…

On March 26, 2018, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) published proposed MFDA Rules 1.2 Definitions and 1.26 Continuing Education (collectively, Proposed Rules) and Proposed MFDA Policy No. 9 Continuing Education (CE) Requirements (Proposed Policy) for public comment.  The Proposed Rules and Proposed Policy are intended to promote a new CE regime to further enhance MFDA members and Approved Persons’ proficiency, professionalism and industry knowledge (CE Initiative). An “Approved Person” is an individual who is…

On May 24, 2018, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) released CSA Staff Notice 81-329 Reducing Regulatory Burden for Investment Fund Issuers, which outlines the CSA’s plan to implement four near-term initiatives to lessen the regulatory burden on investment fund issuers. Specifically, CSA staff will undertake to: (i) remove redundant information in disclosure documents; (ii) use the web to provide certain information about funds; (iii) codify exemptive relief that is routinely granted; and (iv) minimize the…