The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is carrying out a targeted review of Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) providers, to assess their operational practices.
The OSC’s investments funds and structured products branch has launched a review of the operations of RESPs, according to a notice in the December 2016 issue of the OSC’s Investment Funds Practitioner.
The review began in November with OSC staff sending letters to all of the scholarship plan providers in Ontario.
“The scope of our review concerns methods of allocating income earned, practices concerning accumulated income payments, disclosure practices, investment restrictions and the implementation of the key elements of [undertakings that allow plans to invest their income portion in equities],” the notice says.
The outcome of that exercise will be revealed in the future. “Staff will communicate our findings from this review … as appropriate,” the notice adds.
In a separate notice, the OSC reminds RESP plan providers that have entered undertakings that allow them to make equity investments that they must annually certify their compliance with the terms of those agreements.
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