The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) and the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) both support the plan by the ministers of finance of British Columbia, Ontario and Canada to establish a co-operative capital markets regulatory system.
The Department of Finance says the regulator will have an executive head office in Toronto and a nationally integrated executive management team, ensuring policy leadership from regulatory offices. It’s expected to be up and running by July 2015.
“We applaud the efforts of Michael de Jong, B.C. Minister of Finance, and Charles Sousa, Ontario Minister of Finance, to show leadership on this initiative,” says Jim Leech, president and CEO of Teachers’.
The pension fund says Canada needs more efficient and transparent capital markets and that the current fragmentation of the Canadian regulatory system must be addressed.
bcIMC has long advocated for a national securities regulator, having made numerous submissions to regulators, various panels and regulatory authorities, and provincial and federal government.
“This is a significant milestone for Canadian securities regulation and for the future of the financial markets,” says Doug Pearce, CEO and chief investment officer of bcIMC. “We believe a single national securities regulator will have a number of benefits including enhancing investor protection, help managing systemic risk, and being more efficient. We are also hopeful that this will serve to improve the enforcement of securities laws.”
The IIAC adds that the regulator will better protect investors, support efficient capital markets and manage systemic risk.
“The co-operative approach that respects constitutional jurisdiction, and an independent expert board of directors, broadly representative of the regions of Canada and fully accountable, will encourage other provinces to join the cooperative regulatory system,” says Ian Russell, IIAC’s president and CEO.
In 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada blocked a move by Ottawa to set up a national securities regulator.
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