The Canadian Foundation for the Advancement of Investor Rights (FAIR Canada) is applauding the Ontario Securities Commission’s pledge to improve investor involvement with its policymaking efforts.

In its latest appearance before Ontario’s Standing Committee on Government Agencies, OSC chairman David Wilson indicated the OSC plans to develop an Investor Secretariat, and pledged to improve investor access to the OSC’s policy process through this and other means.

“FAIR is pleased that the OSC responded thoughtfully to the recommendations in the stakeholder submissions,” the organization says. “The OSC — at least, in principle — supported FAIR recommendations on retail investor issues.

“We believe that the OSC is sincere in wanting more investor input and recognize the difficulty of getting investor input on securities regulation,” FAIR says, adding that addressing the lack of a strong investor voice in securities regulation was the rationale behind the founding of FAIR.

Regarding the promised secretariat, FAIR calls this pledge “an important step forward.” It has offered to help the commission in this initiative.

One note of disappointment regards FAIR’s call for retail investor representation on the commission. “The OSC appears to have misunderstood our proposal,” FAIR says.

The OSC apparently considers the proposal inconsistent with the Securities Act and the OSC governance charter.

“All FAIR is seeking is the appointment of someone with a retail investor perspective [as one of three new commissioners the OSC is seeking],” it stresses. “This is no different than what the OSC expressly proposed for listed companies.

“The person would, of course, need to meet the same rigourous qualifications in terms of expertise, experience and reputation for integrity as other commissioners,” FAIR adds. “The person would also have the same duties under the statute and governance charter as any other commissioner.”

FAIR will continue to press the OSC for the appointment of one commissioner with a retail investor perspective. “Clearly, having the retail investor perspective can help the board better address investor interests,” it says, “and contribute in a positive way to OSC policy decisions.”

IE