The Ontario Securities Commission is responding to questions raised by stakeholders regarding the implementation of its new fee model, Rule 13-502 – Fees, which is scheduled to take effect March 31.

In a staff notice, the OSC mentions that individuals that transfer to a registrant firm within three months of leaving their old employer will not have to pay a transfer fee, as long as their registration category remains the same as it was with the previous employer. If it has been more than three months, an application to either trade or advise will be considered a new application, and will trigger an activity fee.

As for investment funds, participation fees are payable by registered dealers and/or advisers, and by unregistered investment fund managers. A person or company that is a registered dealer and/or adviser will pay the participation fee referred for each calendar year, by December 31 of each year. Registrants pay the participation fees through the National Registration Database system to be implemented by Canadian securities regulators on March 31. The NRD system contemplates a common renewal date for all registrants on December 31 in each year.