The Mutual Fund Dealers Association is proposing a new policy that would expand firms’ reporting requirements.

In a notice published in the latest OSC Bulletin, the MFDA notes that the objective of the proposed policy and other rule amendments, “are to consolidate many MFDA reporting requirements into a single instrument, expand the scope of matters that must be reported and to require that enforcement and compliance related information be reported electronically.”

Current MFDA rules require reporting of certain enforcement and compliance related information; changes in registration information; and the termination of a rep when they are dismissed for cause or have unresolved client complaints, internal discipline matters or restrictions for violation of regulatory requirements. All of this reporting is paper-based.

“The use of electronic reporting will benefit members in terms of ease of use, as well as the MFDA and the public in terms of the increased regulatory oversight of industry trends through trend and data analysis which will be conducted on the electronic reports,” it says. “The scope of matters to be reported must be expanded to allow the MFDA to perform a broader assessment of activities of approved persons and members.”

The proposed rule and policy changes will lead to an increase in compliance costs for dealers, it notes. However, it says that there will not be any substantial technological systems changes required on the part of MFDA members as the electronic reporting system will be web-based, and they are presently mandated to file financial reports through a web-based system.