The executive committee of Toronto city council is recommending that the city support the creation of a national securities regulator based in Toronto.

Back in January, a city councillor proposed a motion that the city support the creation of a national securities regulator. Today, the city reported that in an executive committee meeting on April 7, the resolution was amended to recommend that the city “convey its strong support to the federal government for the creation of a national securities regulator to be located in Toronto”. The next city council meetings are scheduled for April 29 and 30.

The original motion notes that the existing provincial system hinders investment competitiveness in Canada, and it maintains that, “A common regulator would make Canadian markets more competitive and more efficient.”

It adds that Toronto’s financial centre “will be a major beneficiary of such an agreement and, as such, we should support the federal government bringing this forward… This initiative is long overdue and Toronto can no longer afford the inefficient securities regulatory system we have in Canada.”

The latest federal committee to recommend the creation of a national regulator is mum on the question of where such a regulator should be based, and issues of regional representation and head office location have long been considered among the stumbling blocks to a national regulator. The latest federal budget set aside funds for the creation of a transition team to develop a national regulator and draft national securities legislation.

IE