The Ontario Securities Commission is stepping up its regulatory efforts amid the tumultuous financial markets, said David Wilson, chairman of the OSC, in a speech to Ontario’s Standing Committee on Government Agencies.

“The state of the financial markets remains very challenging,” Wilson noted, adding that “fostering investor confidence is an ongoing challenge in the current environment.

“With the uncertainty in the markets, we’re sustaining a level of high alert,” Wilson said. “We believe increased vigilance is necessary both to provide protection to investors and to foster confidence in the integrity of the capital markets.”

Wilson said that the regulator is more closely monitoring continuous disclosure filings; it has completed a fact-finding review of money market mutual funds and a similar review of exchange-traded funds, closed-end investment funds and he reported that it recently began a review of hedge funds to assess any unusual risks to investors. “We initiated these extraordinary programs to determine whether any additional regulatory responses are necessary as a result of market developments,” he explained.

“During these reviews, we’ve found reasons to be reassured that meaningful disclosure is being made about the challenges facing public companies and the investment funds industry,” Wilson said. “Nevertheless, we remain alert for any signs of improper conduct.”

Additionally, the OSC is working with other regulators on their response to the crisis in non-bank asset-backed commercial paper, he noted; and he explicitly endorsed calls for a single national regulator from the Expert Panel on Securities Regulation, saying, “the OSC welcomes any step that takes Canada closer to the goal of establishing a single regulator enforcing a single securities act and charging a single schedule of fees.

“We have taken action and we intend to keep making progress to make securities regulation in Ontario even better,” he concluded. “We can’t make the markets or the broader economy recover. But we can foster the fairness and efficiency of the capital markets and foster public confidence in those markets.”