OSC publishes Summary Report for Investment Fund and Structured Product Issuers

Toronto – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today published its summary report on key activities undertaken by the Investment Funds and Structured Products (IFSP) branch in fiscal 2022-2023.

The report is intended as a resource for investment funds and their managers on issues and initiatives that impact their operations and includes operational highlights and information on regulatory policy initiatives, emerging issues and stakeholder outreach activities.

“In a challenging economic environment, investor protection remains a top priority alongside communication and outreach activities that helped the OSC to deliver timely guidance, oversee the development of new products and stay agile in our response to emerging issues,” said Raymond Chan, Director, Investment Funds and Structured Products at the OSC.

A few highlights from the report include information on:

Operational updates: While total prospectus filings and exemptive relief applications were down from the previous year, the number of continuous disclosure reviews increased. ESG-related reviews remained a focus and other notable reviews on independent review committees and crypto asset funds were also completed. The results of the latter were included in CSA Staff Notice 81-336 Guidance on Crypto Asset Investment Funds that are Reporting Issuers which was published on July 6, 2023.

Regulatory policy initiatives: Modernization and burden reduction initiatives included continued work on proposals that would increase the online availability and accessibility by investors of financial statements and management reports of fund performance and shift new prospectus filings to every two years from one year for funds in continuous distribution. Investor focused work included in-depth investor testing of key continuous disclosure documents with the goal to help enhance investor understanding of and engagement with these materials.

Emerging issues and initiatives: Information from the Investment Fund Survey continues to be collected and streamlined, providing extensive information on the investment fund industry and risk indicators.

The full report can be found on the OSC website. For updates on current news and issues, please visit the IFSP eNews portal.

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at https://www.osc.ca.

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