The Ontario Securities Commission announced Tuesday that acting director Margo Paul has been appointed director of its corporate finance branch.

“Margo has risen through the ranks of the OSC in her near-10 year career with us,” said OSC Executive Director Charles Macfarlane in a news release. “Quite fittingly, she will now lead the branch which she initially joined, and where she served in various functions for most of her OSC career.”

Prior to joining the Commission in 1994, Paul practised corporate and securities law. She received a business degree and a law degree from The University of Western Ontario and a Masters degree in law from Dalhousie University. She was called to the Ontario bar in 1988.

“I extend a great degree of credit for Corporate Finance’s success in the last year to the branch’s very strong management team and highly-specialized staff,” said Paul.

The OSC corporate finance branch has 80 staff, half of whom are members of the law or accounting professions, with the balance made up of administrators. Responsible for the regulation of public companies, the branch oversees offerings, continuous-disclosure filings, take-over bids, as well as mergers and acquisitions.

The previous director, Kathy Soden, had left to OSC on parental leave and has since decided to give up her role as director.