The Ontario Securities Commission has established a working group to identify opportunities to reduce regulatory costs for market participants.

The working group’s mandate is to pinpoint regulatory activities that create efficiency impediments and associated cost impacts that can outweigh their public interest benefits.

The working group will canvass a wide range of market participants and OSC staff for their ideas on removing any unnecessary complications in the regulatory process.

“Any time we can alleviate regulatory burdens without impeding the ability of the commission to carry out its mandate, we will do so,” said OSC Chair David Brown. “I look forward to hearing the working group’s findings.”

The working group is comprised of Morley Carscallen, is a former senior partner of Coopers & Lybrand and former vice chairman of the OSC; Keith Gray, a retired chairman and CEO of TD Waterhouse and TD Evergreen, and a former Director of the Montreal Stock Exchange and the Canadian Depository for Securities; and Garnet (Gar) Pink, a corporate consultant and former senior partner of Tory Tory DesLauriers & Binnington.

“We believe this exercise will uncover some very useful suggestions, and trust that the individuals we contact will be eager to contribute,” said Carscallen, the group’s chairman. “We will be communicating our recommendations to the OSC on an on-going basis, and expect to complete our work next year.”

The working group’s mandate is to make recommendations which can be implemented solely by the OSC and do not require legislative changes or involve regulators in other jurisdictions.