Former chair of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), Stanley Beck, died in Toronto on Dec. 18 at age 89.

Beck, who served as chair of the OSC from 1985 to 1989, presided over the early stages of the “Little Bang” that demolished the “four pillars” of the Canadian financial industry, allowing the banks and insurers to get into the investment industry and start acquiring investment dealers.

After leaving the OSC, Beck built an arbitration and mediation practice as president of Granville Arbitrations Ltd., and took on a long list of board appointments, including stints as independent chair of GMP Capital Inc., chair of Central Capital Corp., and director at First National Financial LP.

In 2008, Beck also helped launch the investor advocacy group, the Canadian Foundation for the Advancement of Investor Rights (FAIR Canada), serving as its first chair.

Beck joined former OSC executive director Ermanno Pascutto and another former chair of the commission, Ed Waitzer, as the initial directors of FAIR Canada, serving as chair for its first four years.

Beck, along with Waitzer and another former OSC chair, James Baillie, also advocated for a restructuring of the OSC by splitting off its adjudicative function when that issue arose back in 2003. While the idea was rejected at the time, the regulator did finally spin off its tribunal in 2022.

Before venturing onto Bay Street, Beck began his career in academia, first with the faculty of law at the University of British Columbia, then at Queen’s University and Osgoode Hall Law School, where he served as dean from 1977 to 1982.