The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today published final amendments to its local prospectus and registration exemptions regarding syndicated mortgages. These final amendments, together with the previously announced Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) amendments, will result in the transfer of primary oversight of syndicated mortgages to the OSC, except for qualified syndicated mortgages and syndicated mortgages distributed to permitted clients.
The final local amendments clarify the definition of qualified syndicated mortgage, which are syndicated mortgages that meet a set of criteria, including mortgages not intended for development purposes. The final amendments also include prospectus and dealer registration exemptions that involve only institutional or high-net-worth investors that fall within the definition of a permitted client.
The transfer of oversight from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) to the OSC was expected to take place March 1, 2021. In response to stakeholder feedback, the new regulatory regime is now expected to be effective July 1, 2021, subject to requisite approvals. The CSA amendments will take effect on the same date in Ontario.
To avoid any disruption in syndicated mortgage activity, the OSC still encourages applicable firms to submit an application for registration as soon as possible. As part of the OSC’s service standards, routine firm registration applications take 90 working days to process from date of complete application. Novel or complex applications typically take longer to process. For additional information regarding the registration process, please visit the Getting Registered section of our website. For further registration inquiries, please contact [email protected].
The final amendments to OSC Rule 45-501 Ontario Prospectus and Registration Exemptions related to Syndicated Mortgages can be found on the OSC’s website.
The OSC, FSRA and the Ministry of Finance continue to work collaboratively to facilitate the transfer of regulatory oversight of certain syndicated mortgages from FSRA to the OSC.
The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.gov.on.ca.
This news item was originally published by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC CA). For more information, see the Source Link.
