The Financial Services Commission of Ontario has published a draft of its proposed statement of priorities for the year ahead, setting out the key challenges facing the regulator.

FSCO’s statement highlights the importance of its participation in the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities, the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators, and the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations.

Among the initiatives it’s working on with the Joint Forum are: efforts to harmonize point of sale disclosure for segregated funds and mutual funds; examining the regulation of financial services intermediaries and recommending ways to minimize possible conflicts in regulation between sectors; promoting equivalent consumer protection, focusing initially on intermediaries who sell mutual funds and seg funds; and continuing to develop mechanisms to allow for more effective sharing of information on regulatory enforcement issues and actions across sectors and jurisdictions.

Within the CCIR, it’s continuing to develop risk-based best practices for use by regulators across jurisdictions; reviewing the use of electronic communications and transactions within the insurance industry; and, identifying sales and claims issues related to the incidental selling of insurance.

It is also working with CISRO to assess the regulation of managing general agencies, wholesale agencies and insurance adjusters, to identify and address any possible risks to consumers, regulatory gaps and legislative barriers. And, within CAPSA, it pledges to: finalize a proposed new multilateral agreement for the regulation of multijurisdictional pension plans; examine issues related to the application of the “prudent person” rule; and, develop a common approach to pension plan funding policies.

FSCO also aims to enhance the risk-based approach to regulation. It says it will promote the expansion of Autorité des marchés financiers and FSCO insurance company complaint data report sharing to other regulators to create a national complaint data reporting system. “This will help to ensure the consistency and accuracy of complaint data and assist regulators in accurately identifying and assessing issues in the marketplace,” it says.

It is also looking at possible amendments to the regulatory framework to keep pace with changes in the marketplace, including: amendments to legislation governing credit unions; continuing to review and finalize partial pension plan wind-ups; developing recommendations for changes to the current requirements for disclosure of pension plan information to increase transparency; and, commencing a five-year review of the auto insurance system.

Comments on the draft are due by June 3.