Following a pledge to improve regulatory co-operation in the wake of the financial crisis, U.S. and Canadian securities regulators met last week to discuss cross-border co-operation.

Senior staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission met last week to discuss ways to further strengthen co-operation regarding the supervision of financial firms. The regulators’ staff members met to consider their approaches to examinations, investor education initiatives, and the status of their respective regulatory reforms, among other things.

They also discussed additional co-ordination in the oversight of dually regulated entities, and they agreed to meet regularly to discuss issues of mutual significance regarding supervisory co-ordination and emerging risks in the cross-border market.

The SEC says that the meeting is part of an effort set out in a memorandum of understanding, which was signed in June 2010 between the SEC, OSC, and the Autorité des marchés financiers, concerning consultation, co-operation, and exchanging information, regarding the supervision of entities that are regulated in both Canada and the U.S. The MOU set forth the terms and conditions for the sharing of information about regulated entities, such as broker-dealers and investment advisers, which operate in the U.S., Quebec and Ontario.

“A significant lesson from the 2008 financial crisis is the importance of sharing information about firms that operate cross-border so that regulators can identify and mitigate emerging risks,” said Ethiopis Tafara, director of the SEC’s Office of International Affairs. “Since the 2010 agreement, SEC and OSC staff co-operation on oversight of dually regulated entities has increased substantially, including onsite examinations of broker-dealers, transfer agents, and investment advisers.”

“The shared border between the U.S. and Canada and the similarity of our regulatory systems have resulted in a significant cross-border market for financial services. The SEC and OSC staffs are working to ensure that the regulatory oversight of the entities that operate in this market is as seamless as the transactions in which these entities engage. We look forward to continued cooperation with our OSC counterparts,” added Carlo di Florio, director of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations.