Is Canada ready? – Continuum

Lawrence E. Ritchie

April 17, 2019

In the Winter 2019 issue of Continuum, the Alumni Magazine of Osgoode Hall Law School, Christine Ward marks the 10-year anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis by interviewing a number of Osgoode’s researchers and alumni to help get a sense of whether Canada has the stability and regulations in place to withstand another financial crisis. In addition to Mary Condon, Osgoode’s Interim Dean, Ward gleans insight from several experts in corporate governance and securities regulation, including Larry Ritchie, a partner in Osler’s Litigation Group who chairs the firm’s cross-disciplinary Risk Management and Crisis Response national practice and is a key contact for the Securities Regulatory Enforcement and Broker-Dealer Practice.

In the article, Larry talks about the launch of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), a new financial regulator for the province’s non-capital markets. It replaces the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) and Larry is on the board.

“The FSRA will include a more robust governance model akin to most public corporations,” he explains. In addition to an independent board and a transparent cost-recovery fee structure, the FSRA “will have a specific mandate to protect the rights and interests of consumers while also fostering a strong, sustainable, competitive and innovative financial services sector.”

Larry refers to the enhanced cooperation between financial regulators as an added benefit.

“The FSRA isn’t a direct response to the 2008 financial crisis, but it is a response to the need for modern regulators to have the tools in place to collaborate, identify risks and respond to them as they arise. We’ll be nimbler, more responsive and more reflective of the needs of consumers.”

Read Christine Ward’s full article “Is Canada ready?” in the Winter 2019 edition of Continuum, the Alumni Magazine of Osgoode Hall Law School