The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has jumped on the straight-through processing bandwagon.

In a letter sent to the CEOs all of the firms it regulates, OSFI says the STP initiative undertaken by the securities industry in Canada and the U.S., and spearheaded in Canada by the Canadian Capital Markets Association (CCMA), deserves broad industry support.

“As an observer to the CCMA Core group, OSFI is aware of and supports actions being taken by the CCMA and Canadian securities regulators to promote STP-readiness,” it says.

OSFI says that the Canadian Securities Administrators believes that its surveys will provide critical information about the degree of support for in-house initiatives required for STP and the relative significance of issues that need to be addressed.

OSFI notes that the CCMA believes it is important that each market participant analyzes the impact of the proposed Best Practices and Standards on its organization and the marketplace, and provides feedback by August 15.

OSFI says it supports these objectives. “We encourage federally regulated financial institutions and pension plans, in particular those that are directly affected, to respond to the requests for information that apply to them,” it says.

OFSI also encourages firms to ensure that their systems and business processes meet industry STP objectives on time.

OSFI say it plans to follow the progress of readiness efforts by way of discussions with the firm’s it regulates through to implementation of STP in 2005.