Financial Post | Barbara Shecter | September 27, 2016

The Ontario Securities Commission is launching a hub called LaunchPad to work directly with fintech companies to help them navigate — and even potentially tailor — the regulatory framework.

Maureen Jensen, chair of the OSC, said the financial technology companies don’t fit “neatly” into current regulations, and acknowledged that some requirements “might not make sense” for the new business models.

Canada’s largest market watchdog has already dealt with 40 Fintech firms seeking registration. These include online advisers, peer-to-peer lenders, and crowdfunding platforms.

“With LaunchPad, we will work to tailor regulation and oversight to their unique business models, as long as investor protections are in place,” she said. “Based on our experience so far, many Fintech companies ‘don’t know what they don’t know’ about operating in a regulated industry, and that can threaten their ability to do business.”

See: 

• OPEN LETTER: Lifting the Veil on Peer-to-Peer Lending in Canada

• Regulating the Fintech revolution

Jensen said the OSC will apply what it learns through the LaunchPad hub to its registration model and compliance expectations. It is possible this could be woven into overall initiative by Canada’s market regulators to simplify and lessen the regulatory burden on all registered companies, she said.

“Given the size of the Ontario Securities Act, its rules and regulations, there is no question there is a compliance burden,” she said during a luncheon speech Tuesday, where she also outlined the plans for the fintech regulatory hub. “We are looking to streamline disclosure requirements, eliminate duplication and improve the public offering process.”

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