The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is making the switch to mandatory electronic filing for a variety of documents.
The OSC announced Friday that, effective Feb. 19, market participants will be required to file in electronic format for certain documents that have traditionally been filed in paper format.
This generally includes documents that must be filed under Ontario’s securities rules that are not covered by the various national filing systems, such as the System for Electronic Documents Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR), the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI), and the National Registration Database (NRD).
The OSC says that electronic filing helps streamline the submission process for market participants, while improving the data analysis, compliance and enforcement capabilities of the commission. “Electronic filing is a convenience to filers allowing for the efficient collection and use of information by the OSC,” it says, adding, “This allows the commission to focus resources on more substantive matters.”
While mandatory electronic filing officially takes effect on Feb. 19, these electronic services are available now for participants that want to use them.
Additionally, the OSC says that the fees that are payable in connection with the filing of documents can now also be paid electronically using credit or debit cards.