Ontario Securities Commission chairman, David Brown, says that his organization is getting tough on enforcement, but there is more work to be done.

Speaking at a conference on economic crime in Toronto today, Brown bragged that the OSC has obtained jail sentences in four of the last five cases in which it has sought a jail term. He added that the regulator has successfully brought or settled more than 100 actions in the past four years; the average time to complete investigations has been from 21 months to 13 months. Brown also noted that the time to trial has been cut from an average of 15 months to 11 months.

“So there has been progress. But there is no denying that enforcement can still be significantly improved,” Brown allowed. “Look at the lack of vertical integration. In many locations — like Toronto — we have three levels of police force: the RCMP, the provincial police, and the Metropolitan police. Then, there is the provincial Attorney-General and the OSC. Look at the lack of horizontal integration, with separate operations by 13 provinces and territories — and a federal presence as well.”

“Working in sync, these agencies would constitute a phenomenal force,” Brown said. “We need to bring the groups together and to establish a clearer responsibility and a clearer authority for all concerned. It is important to knit the enforcement community into a much more unified whole.”

Brow also said that there have been some positive developments in Canadian enforcement, including: the proposal for a national securities commission; the OSC is reviewing its sourcing of cases, how it prioritizes them, how it investigates them, how it litigates them to find ways to better identify appropriate cases and to speed up investigations; and, it is enjoying increased involvement by the federal government.

The federal involvement includes a joint venture with the RCMP, the Securities Fraud Office; Ottawa’s pledge of $120 million to fight white-collar crime; and, the creation of the integrated market enforcement teams.

“Potentially, our resources are enormous. Potentially, we can make it tougher than ever for fraudsters to operate in Canada. Now is the time to turn potential into reality, and raise the level of protection and enforcement to the heights that the current challenge demands,” Brown concluded.