Bill 135 Changes to Securities Act Establish Derivatives Regulation

On December 8, Ontario's Bill 135, the Helping Ontario Families and Managing Responsibility Act 2010, received Royal Asset. The Act amends the Ontario Securities Act and, among other things, (i) establishes a regulatory framework for trading in derivatives in Ontario; (ii) allows the Ontario Securities Commission to regulate credit rating organizations; (iii) provides the OSC authority to recognize and make decisions related to alternative trading systems and (iv) extends current prohibitions on insider trading and tipping to issuers that have a "real and substantial connection" to Ontario and whose securities are listed and posted on the TSX-V. Most of the amendments came into force on the day of Royal Assent, while certain provisions principally relating to the regulation of derivatives will not come into force until a date still to be proclaimed.