Regulators approve amendments to UMIR disciplinary proceedings

Regulators announced today that they have approved a variety of amendments to the rules of self-regulatory organizations.

Effective January 14, the Alberta Securities Commission, B.C. Securities Commission, Manitoba Securities Commission, Ontario Securities Commission and the Autorité des marchés financiers have all approved a series of amendments to the policies to the Universal Market Integrity Rules regarding the procedure to be followed in a disciplinary proceeding.

The regulators say these amendments are generally of an administrative, editorial or technical nature. Based on comments received from the regulators, Market Regulation Services Inc. (RS) revised the text of the amendments to:

• clarify that the disclosure of material related to the approval of a settlement agreement by a hearing panel in Quebec is subject to any order limiting public access to the hearing or the publication of information or documents;
• provide that the chair of a hearing panel must be “independent” and may not be a current or former director, officer, partner or employee of a firm or access person; and
• a number of minor editorial change to the drafting of the provisions.

Also, the Ontario Securities Commission approved the amendments to the by-laws of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association regarding the protection of directors, officers and other individuals, such as employees and agents. The amendments clarify that the indemnification and protection provisions of its by-laws apply to past and present members of the MFDA board of directors, its committees and sub-committees, MFDA committees and sub-committees, officers, employees or agents. The amendments would also extend the indemnification and protection provisions to members of a Regional Council, including a hearing panel, a committee or sub-committee.

Finally, the board of directors of TSX Inc. has approved amendments to the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange that provide for: