The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), which
regulates Ontario pension plans, has issued an update to its response to the COVID-19
pandemic. The update, issued March 20, acknowledges that "the
normal course of business has been disrupted" and that
"business continuity plans have been activated at many
workplaces". We examine the update, including FSRA's views
on filings, member disclosure, transaction applications, and
transfer ratios.
Filings
FSRA recognized in its update that "pension plan
administrators and their agents will likely face challenges in
meeting upcoming filing deadlines". That said, administrators
are still required to respect the existing filing extension regime
provided for in the Pension Benefits Act (PBA), which
allows pension plan administrators and their authorized agents to
request a filing extension of up to 60 days beyond the prescribed
timeline under the PBA. For extension requests of up to 60 days,
administrators should
