Strong new powers recommended for OSC

A task force studying the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is recommending broadening the regulator’s powers.

The changes would allow the OSC, which oversees Canada’s largest securities market, to make binding rules for the industry, although the task force has recommended greater limits on those powers than it first proposed. Task force chairman Ronald Daniels said public comments convinced him to modify the scope of powers recommended for the OSC in the final report, released this month.

Few non-government bodies in Canada have the power to create law, said Daniels, a University of Toronto law professor. By comparison, in the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission has broad authority similar to what he is recommending.

“We have tried to present an innovative approach to developing securities regulation, which will enhance public participation in the process,” Daniels said.

To add new areas of authority, the OSC will have to get permission from the provincial government.

The task force was set up by the province last fall after an Ontario court ruled the OSC could not regulate penny stock dealers with its policy statements.

The provincial government hopes to pass the legislation this autumn.