Lawrence E. Ritchie Lawrence E. Ritchie

Financial services regulation in 2020: Convergence, disruption and acceleration

The year 2020 can be divided into three phases: pre-COVID-19 pandemic; the initial COVID-19 phase which was marked by short-term emergency measures;...

Ontario Securities Commission awards over half a million dollars to three whistleblowers

Following a trend of rising whistleblower tips and awards, the Ontario Securities Commission (the “OSC”) recently sent another strong...

A new approach to deference? Quadrexx and appeals from the Ontario Securities Commission

In a recent decision, Quadrexx Hedge Capital Management Ltd v Ontario Securities Commission (the “Quadrexx Appeal”), the Ontario...

SEC enhances its whistleblower program to further incentivize tips

In what is described as an attempt to provide more clarity to whistleblowers and increase efficiency and transparency, on September 23, 2020, the...

Who decides whether responding to summons would violate employment contract? The OSC says ‘not us’

Enforcement Staff of Canadian capital markets regulators have broad powers to compel the attendance of witnesses and to require those witnesses to...

DOJ Opinion Procedure Release offers guidance for contracting with public bodies

Guidance from law enforcement and regulators on their priorities and expectations is a valuable tool for managing risk for businesses and...

IIROC and MFDA each offer proposals with competing visions for the future of SROs in Canada

Canada is one of the few major jurisdictions to utilize self-regulatory organizations (“SROs”) in its capital markets regulatory regime....

The future of self-regulation in Canada: Regulators pursue a public dialogue

On June 25, 2020, the CSA released the “CSA Consultation Paper 25-402 Consultation on the Self-Regulatory Organization...

Ontario securities taskforce seeks feedback on modernization report

The Ontario government’s Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce* (the “Taskforce”) is seeking public feedback on the 47 initial,...

U.S. DOJ and SEC update Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidance

As we have discussed on a number of occasions, the approach taken to investigating and prosecuting financial crime in the United States is...