Overview

On Jan­u­ary 18, 2018, the On­tario Se­cu­ri­ties Com­mis­sion (OSC) pub­lished for com­ment a pro­posed change to OSC Pol­icy 15-601 Whistle­blower Program. As a result of fur­ther con­sid­er­a­tion as well as feed­back re­ceived from the Law So­ci­ety of On­tario sub­se­quent to the pub­li­ca­tion of the fi­nal Pol­icy, the OSC is propos­ing a change to the Pol­icy to clar­ify that in-house coun­sel who re­port in­for­ma­tion un­der the Pol­icy in breach of ap­plic­a­ble provin­cial or ter­ri­to­r­ial bar or law so­ci­ety rules or equiv­a­lent rules ap­plic­a­ble in an­other ju­ris­dic­tion will not be el­i­gi­ble for a whistle­blower award.

On October 4, 2018, the OSC issued a Notice advising that it has amended OSC Policy 15-601 to clarify that in-house counsel who report information under the Policy in breach of applicable provincial or territorial bar or law society rules or equivalent rules applicable in another jurisdiction will not be eligible for a whistleblower award. The amendment is effective immediately.

Recent activities developments

October 2018

On October 4, 2018, the OSC issued a Notice advising that it has amended OSC Policy 15-601 accordingly effective immediately.

January 2018

On January 18, 2018, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) published for comment a proposed change to OSC Policy 15-601 Whistleblower Program. Comments are requested by March 20, 2018.