The Ontario government says it will move forward with a comprehensive package of measures to bolster investor protection.

The proposed measures include:

  • raising maximum court fines for general offences to $5 million from $1 million, and raising maximum prison terms to five years less a day from two years;
  • giving the Ontario Securities Commission the authority to impose administrative fines of up to $1 million for securities law violations and order that offenders give up the profits they have gained from those violations;
  • granting stronger powers for the OSC to review the information that public companies disclose to investors;
  • providing greater clarification of offences such as securities fraud and market manipulation, and for making misleading or untrue statements;
  • broadening rights for investors to sue if companies make misleading or untrue statements or fail to give full and timely information; and
  • granting new rule-making powers for the OSC to hold CEOs and CFOs accountable for the accuracy of their financial statements.

The government will also be consulting on reforms to the regulation of public accounting in Ontario to ensure that standards continue to be internationally respected and reflect the high expectations of businesses and investors. It is also considering changes to the Ontario Business Corporations Act that are consistent with the Ontario Securities Act reforms and will add strength to the legal rights and remedies of shareholders.

Ontario is appointing Ron Daniels, dean of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, to help design a more modern, effective and transparent licensing regime for public accounting in Ontario. Daniels will make recommendations on tough standards that are internationally respected and that reflect the high expectations of the business community, investors and our trading partners.

The government will also introduce legislation to make the practice of public accounting accessible to all Chartered Accountants, Certified General Accountants and Certified Management Accountants who meet these tough standards.

Ontario will also be moving forward with measures to ensure high accountability standards for the public sector. As well, the province says it will continue to work with Ottawa and the other provincial governments to examine a national approach to securities regulation to help reduce red tape and provide more uniform securities laws.