Teachers’ seeks to provide Supreme Court with investor perspective on single regulator

Cites inefficiencies, costs, inability to regulate complex products, drain on surveillance and enforcement resources

Toronto - The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers') has applied for leave to intervene before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Reference to the court on the proposed Canadian Securities Act.

In materials filed with its motion for leave to intervene, Teachers' states:

"As one of the largest institutional investors in Canada, Teachers' understands the factors which impact the integrity and credibility of the Canadian capital markets... Effective regulation ought to be considered both from a legislative and policy perspective and from an operational effectiveness and cost perspective…

"…In its submissions to the [2008] Hockin Panel, Teachers' repeated its concerns regarding the existing passport system which endeavours to harmonize provincial policy and regulation. While acknowledging that the passport system had somewhat reduced complexity and costs, Teachers' noted the passport system has failed to lead to consistency in policy and legislation and has therefore continued to create unnecessary costs and inefficiencies in the regulatory process…

"There is no consistency, let along uniformity, in the drafting, interpretation and application of securities legislation, even in circumstances where the policy objectives and general legislative approaches in question are identical. This leaves issuers and investors alike in a confused state and creates unnecessary inefficiencies in the securities regulatory process, increasing compliance costs for issuers and investors and decreasing the pool of resources otherwise available for surveillance and enforcement activities."

The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to hear arguments in early 2011 about the constitutionality of the proposed act to establish a national regulator.

Teachers' believes it can offer a useful and different perspective on the important issues that will be weighed by the court. The pension plan has invested in public capital markets since 1990, and seeks to address the intent and effect of the proposed Securities Act from the viewpoint of a sophisticated investor in the existing system.

Filed documents:

Affidavit (264 KB PDF)

Memorandum of Argument (228 KB PDF)

Notice of Motion (18 KB PDF)

With $96.4 billion in assets as of December 31, 2009, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada. An independent organization, it invests the pension fund's assets and administers the pensions of 289,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario. For more information visit www.otpp.com.

Contact :

Deborah Allan
Director, Communications and Media Relations
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
(416) 730-5347
deborah_allan@otpp.com