The Ontario Securities Commission has approved two by-laws proposed by the Mutual Fund Dealers Association concerning corporate governance.

The by-laws reflect recommendations made by the MFDA corporate governance committee in its report dated February 2003.

One deals with board and governance amendments, including the composition of the MFDA board and its committees, and processes for nominating and electing directors.

The other deals with regional council and hearing panel amendments, including the composition of the MFDA regional councils and disciplinary panels, and sets out the process for setting up the disciplinary panels.

Three comment letters were received after the proposed by-laws were published on August 29. The letters came from Advocis, Keybase Financial Group and Miles Hershberg Capital Ltd.

As a result of the comments, the MFDA revised one of the proposed by-laws to reflect that, under the terms and conditions of recognition of the MFDA as a self-regulatory organization, members, directors, officers and employees of the Investment Dealers Association and the Investment Funds Institute of Canada should not be public directors of the MFDA.