Lawrence E. Ritchie
Nov 14, 2016
In his recently released 2016 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, the Ontario Finance Minister announced that the provincial government is introducing legislation that, if passed, would establish the initial parameters of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), “a new independent and flexible regulator of financial services and pensions that, once established, would be more consumer-focused and improve protections for consumers, investors and pension plan beneficiaries.” Canadian Underwriter reported on the review and details regarding the FSRA in the article, “Ontario to introduce legislation to establish new Financial Services Regulatory Authority.”
As the article states, the creation of the FSRA was one of 37 recommendations included in the Review of the Mandates of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), Financial Services Tribunal (FST) and the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario (DICO), a preliminary position paper authored by an expert advisory panel appointed by the Ontario Ministry of Finance to conduct a review of FSCO, FST and DICO. The panel included Osler litigation partner Lawrence Ritchie, George Cooke and James Daw.
The article reports that Lawrence discussed the recommendation to create the FSRA at the Canadian Insurance Financial Forum in Toronto earlier this year. “[T]he core of the preliminary recommendations is rather than tinker with the existing system, we recommended the creation of a new agency called the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, which would have a modified twin peaks approach to regulation,” said Lawrence at the forum. “It would have its own corporate identity, it would be more operational distinct from government, self-funded in the sense that it would raise money from the industry and be accountable for that as its budget, [and] it would be governed by an expert board of directors.”
Read more of Lawrence’s comments and the full article “Ontario to introduce legislation to establish new Financial Services Regulatory Authority” in Canadian Underwriter.