The Ontario government quietly amended the Ontario Securities Act a few weeks ago, paving the way for even greater disclosure and compliance measures by dealers and their advisors. In fact, as Blakes highlights in their June 29, 2015 bulletin the new record-keeping obligation will place even more onus on all dealers, advisors and other market participants to present “books, records and other documents” to prove their compliance with Ontario’s securities laws.

While few within the financial services industry have sounded the alarm (and may not yet know about these new obligations), the changes will add to organizations’ compliance costs and in Blakes’ view, “these expanded requirements may provide new avenues of attack for class action plaintiff lawyers in bringing claims under the civil liability provisions of securities legislation.”

Knowing your client and recommending suitable investments will only go so far in the years ahead. It will become as important that you maintain an audit trail and can show that you’re doing the right thing.

Tags: Delivery, Financial Services, Industry, Publishing, Regulatory