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Private Capital Markets Association President and Vice-Chair Craig Skauge Comments on OSC Developments
Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – July 20, 2022) – The Private Capital Markets of Canada (“PCMA”), Canada’s leading voice of private capital formation comments on the recent Globe and Mail ROB cover story: Get Used to It (25/06/22) reports of OSC intransigence in OPM’s, Discord at the OSC says Globe (25/06/25), reports of OSC breach of confidentiality in Professor Jeffrey MacIntosh’s National Post’s Op-Ed, Why the Regulator Needs to Make Room For Dissent (08/07/22), and ex-Chair Waitzer’s disjointed National Post Op-Ed, The Issue with the OSC is Integrity (14/07/22) as follows:
The PCMA unreservedly supports the appointment of Heather Zordel as Chair of the Board of Directors of the OSC.
Heather Zordel possesses deep expertise in securities law and practice, including previously acting as corporate counsel to the Toronto Stock Exchange (now TSX), a former member of the federally appointed Expert Panel on Securities Regulation, a past Chair of the Securities Advisory Committee to the OSC and a former Co-director and (still) continuing Adjunct Professor for the Osgoode LL.M. program in Securities Law.
She also possesses impressive agency, board and commission leadership skills, including currently acting as part-time Chair of the Condominium Authority of Ontario, is a member of the Board and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee for the Toronto Hydro Corporation, and was elected a Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario in 2018, all of which touch upon the lives of millions of Ontarians in a meaningful fashion each and every day.
Simply put, Chair Zordel is not only highly qualified professionally, but is also a dedicated public servant of the highest order and a demonstrated organizational change agent.
The PCMA looks forward to working with Heather, and to the results of her continued efforts to achieve progressive organizational change within the OSC, not the least of which through regulatory burden reduction and innovative rule making to encourage the efficient formation of capital in the Province of Ontario and beyond.
The PCMA also lauds the Ford government for its publicly enunciated five-point plan to create confidence in Ontario’s capital markets, its “open for business” policies as well the Ontario Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce’s (Taskforce) independent recommendations as they pertain to capital formation in Ontario.
The PCMA is deeply disturbed by reports in both OPM’s succinct, yet insightful piece and Prof. MacIntosh’s superbly crafted National Post Op-Ed piece that confidentiality, non-disclosure and fiduciary obligations allegedly were breached by unnamed sources from within the OSC who spoke to the Globe & Mail to promote a discrediting narrative against Chair Zordel. If true, this is an unacceptable revelation and the PCMA calls for it to be independently investigated by the government and acted upon swiftly.
In conclusion, PCMA President Skauge, offered the following: “While the autonomy of securities regulators must be respected, the Ford government should be applauded for taking a more involved stance with the OSC at this time. For far too long, the OSC has been under the undue influence of the largest financial institutions, fund companies, and law firms in Canada, much to the peril of the small business community. One need only look to Ontario taking decades longer than other Canadian jurisdictions to adopt certain key prospectus exemptions as evidence of this. The composition of the recently announced Advisory Council to the CEO of the OSC only further cements this truth. We are encouraged by the steps the Ford Government has taken, most notably the appointment of Chair Zordel and look forward to seeing both the short-term and long-term results of her leadership.”
About the PCMA
The Private Capital Markets Association of Canada (PCMA)™ is Canada’s largest private capital markets community. It is a not-for-profit association founded in 2002 by a group of Canadian business professionals whose firms were active in the exempt securities market. The PCMA has more than 300 member firms coming from various industry backgrounds including,
- Firms registered as exempt market dealers with securities regulators in one or more jurisdictions across Canada and the dealing representatives of those firms;
- Exempt market issuers;
- Professional advisers and service providers to the exempt market including lawyers, accountants, compliance officers, financial institutions, software providers, corporate communications advisers, investment professionals and others.
The PCMA is the national voice of the private capital markets in Canada with a focus on the exempt market. The PCMA works to provide a forum for the exempt market industry and policy makers to work together to enhance integrity and growth of the industry, while strengthening investor understanding and confidence.
For further information about this Press Release:
Craig Skauge – President
Email: craig.skauge@pcmacanada.com
For further information about the PCMA
Natalie Reynolds – Manager, Membership and Operations
Email: natalie.reynolds@pcmacanada.com
Phone: 647-237-7535
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/131459