Action Required: OSC registration for SMI activity should be filed asap

*Please note that this email was originally sent to stakeholders who the OSC identified as likely being impacted by the transfer of regulatory oversight of certain SMI activity to the OSC. The e-mail has been posted to provide all stakeholders with information on the transfer and the registration process for firms and individuals that will be involved. We do encourage all firms and individuals to review the information below to see if they may be impacted and contact the registration email address below with any further questions.

Further to our e-mail on August 6, 2020, we are contacting you again about changes to the regulation of syndicated mortgage investment (SMI) activity scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2021, as we understand that your firm may be engaged in SMI activity and we did not receive a response to our previous e-mail. For additional information about the SMI-related final and proposed amendments, see below.

Firms that will require registration with the OSC for SMI activity, and have not yet applied for registration, are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Any further delay will increase the possibility that the OSC may not be able to complete the registration process for your firm by March 1, 2021, which would mean any SMI registrable activity (defined below) conducted by your firm would need to be paused until the OSC registration process is complete. We note that, should OSC registration be required, the OSC’s service standard for routine firm registration applications is 90 working days from the date of a complete application. Novel, complex or incomplete applications, or applications where fitness for registration requires additional analysis, typically take longer to process.

OSC Registration

Firms (and their individuals) that engage in SMI registrable activity in Ontario on or after March 1, 2021, will need to:

  • be registered as dealers in Ontario, or
  • rely on an exemption from registration in Ontario as a dealer.

Please ensure you discuss the potential impact of the Amendments (defined below) on your firm with your advisors, including legal counsel, as soon as possible.

For more information about:

SMI Amendments

On August 6, 2020, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) published proposed amendments to Ontario securities legislation, and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published final amendments (the Amendments), that would, among other things, subject SMI trading activity in Ontario to the registration requirements under Ontario securities legislation as of March 1, 2021 (registrable activity). 

Further information about the Amendments can be found at the following link. If you have specific questions regarding the Amendments, please contact Adam Braun, Legal Counsel in the OSC’s Compliance and Registrant Regulation Branch at [email protected].

We will also be providing more information about these registration requirements in the future, which could include e-mails, notices or information sessions.  We encourage you to subscribe for e-mails and notifications from the OSC CRR Branch, at https://www.osc.gov.on.ca/en/subscribe.htm#roc.

If you have any OSC registration-related questions in the interim, please contact [email protected]. We hope that our outreach will provide information to your firm to assist it in evaluating the securities regulatory options relating to its SMI activity after March 1, 2021.

Sincerely,

“Jeff Scanlon”

Jeff Scanlon
Registration Manager
Ontario Securities Commission