In February 2020, the Ontario Government established the Capital
Markets Modernization Taskforce to review and modernize
Ontario's capital markets. Given the events that have
transpired since the last review in 2003, including the Great
Recession and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this is a much-needed
undertaking. The taskforce issued its initial consultation report
on July 7, discussing 47 of the most pressing policy issues raised
by stakeholders during the consultation process.
There are two overall themes of these policy issues. First, to
supplement the Ontario Securities Commission's (OSC) policing
function. Second, to grow Ontario's capital markets. The report
proposes some significant changes, and a number of them are
discussed in more depth below. A number of the proposals would
impact policy across multiple provinces, and implementation would
require cooperation on a harmonized approach.
