The Ontario Securities Commission is working to protect investors by improving mutual fund disclosure and setting up a new anti-scam unit, among other initiatives.

In a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto on Thursday, Ontario Securities Commission chairman David Wilson said that investor protection is really “job one” for securities regulators around the world. He lamented that there’s no common voice for investors. “I’ve learned it’s too easy for investor opinion to be drowned out in a chorus of well-financed voices,” Wilson said, noting that there’s tremendous competition for the regulator’s ear.

“In this environment, regulators must be constantly vigilant on behalf of the investor. The investor has to know that someone is working to keep the playing field level,” he said. “… that ‘someone’ has to be the regulator.”

Wilson said that one of the initiatives it’s working on is improving the disclosure provided by mutual fund managers. “The OSC is working with Canada’s securities and insurance regulators to develop a two-page point-of-sale disclosure document for mutual funds and segregated funds,” he said. “This prototype document will contain all the key information about the product, the sales charges and the fees that the investor is paying. This kind of plain-language disclosure will make the investment options easier to understand.”

Also, he noted that the OSC is setting up a new unit to fight scams and illegal distributions, including boiler rooms. “Our new anti-scam unit will deploy staff with market, regulatory and law-enforcement expertise to collaborate with other law-enforcement agencies. By aggressively targeting these scams and shutting them down, we can protect investors,” Wilson suggested.

Finally, he encouraged Minister of Government Services, Gerry Phillips, “to continue to work with your ministerial colleagues to chart a path toward the urgently needed modernization of our securities regulatory structure.”