OSC announces key details for embedded commissions roundtable

Editor’s note: The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) wishes to alert those registered to attend the Roundtable on the Option of Discontinuing Embedded Commissions that the location has changed. The roundtable will take place on Sept.18, from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm at The Globe and Mail Centre, 17th floor, 351 King St. E., Toronto.

The OSC has announced the agenda and list of panellists for a roundtable scheduled for Sept. 18 to discuss the controversial topic of discontinuing embedded commissions on mutual funds.

The roundtable is being held as part of the CSA’s ongoing consultation on the potential impact of discontinuing embedded commissions.

Following an introduction by Maureen Jensen, the OSC’s chairwoman and CEO, the event will have three panel discussions. Each of these discussions will explore a different alternative to discontinuing embedded commissions and how that alternative may address the CSA’s concerns with respect to these commissions.

The topics include capping or standardizing trailing commissions; implementing additional standards for the use of the deferred-sales charge purchase option; and enhancements to disclosure and choice to investors.

Panellists for the discussion on capping or standardizing trailing commissions include: Rob Strickland, president, Fidelity Investments Canada ULC; Neil Gross, Component Strategies Consulting; Warren Collier, managing director and head of iShares with Blackrock Asset Management Canada Ltd.; Scott Findlay, president and chairman of the Independent Financial Brokers of Canada; and Nicole Lee of RBC Global Asset Management Inc.

For the session on implementing additional standards for the use of the deferred-sales charge purchase option, the panellists include: Barry McInerney, president and CEO of Mackenzie Financial Corp.; John Adams, CEO and executive vice president of PFSL Investments Canada Ltd.; Marian Passmore, director of policy and chief operating officer with the Canadian Foundation for Advancement of Investor Rights (a.k.a. FAIR Canada); and Sonny Goldstein, principal of Goldstein Financial Investments Inc.

Finally, Paul Bourque, president and CEO of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada; Sandra Kegie, executive director of the Federation of Mutual Fund Dealers; Duane Green, president and CEO of Franklin Templeton Investments Corp.; and Dan Hallett, vice president and principal with HighView Asset Management Ltd., will serve as panelists for the third topic, on enhancements to disclosure and choice to investors

The roundtable will take place from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm in Toronto.

Interested parties wishing to attend the roundtable should register online on the OSC’s website. An audio recording and transcript will be posted on the OSC’s website following the roundtable.

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