OSC vice-chair to become acting chair as Wetston retires

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Ontario Securities Commission vice-chair Monica Kowal will become acting chair of the provincial regulator in November following the departure of Howard Wetston after a five-year term.

Mr. Wetston, 68, was appointed OSC chair in 2010 with an original departure date of November, 2013, but agreed in 2012 to a two-year extension until November this year. At the time he said he had too many new initiatives under way to leave.

Mr. Wetston said Wednesday he is leaving "with full confidence that the OSC will continue to advance regulation in this province."

"We have intensified our efforts to protect our marketplace, engage with investors and advance our important policy work," he said in a statement.

Mr. Wetston's decision to retire on schedule after a five-year term created a complex situation for finding a permanent replacement because it is uncertain how long a new chair will serve before the launch of a long-awaited new national securities regulator, which will replace securities commissions in all participating provinces, including Ontario.

Ms. Kowal will become acting chair Nov. 15 after serving as vice-chair of the OSC since July, 2014. She is a lawyer who was previously OSC general counsel from 2004 to 2014 following a 15-year career in private practice.

The new Co-operative Markets Regulator, which will oversee securities regulation in participating provinces, was initially supposed to be up and running on July 1 this year, which would have allowed Mr. Wetston to stay until its creation.

But it has faced repeated delays in drafting the legislation and regulations that will govern its operations. Provincial securities ministers working on the new organization said in July their target for a launch is now the fall of 2016, which means a potentially short term for Mr. Wetston's replacement unless there are further delays.

In late August, ministers released drafts of new legislation and regulations, which are still out for public comment until Dec. 23. Participating provinces are expected to pass completed legislation by next June to allow a launch by September.

The participating provinces also appointed former Maritime Life chief executive officer William Black as the inaugural chair of the board of the Capital Markets Regulatory Authority. The board of the agency will oversee staff appointments and help guide the integration of provincial securities commissions.

British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Yukon have signed on to participate with the federal government in the new regulator. Alberta and Quebec are the largest provinces that have not joined.

During Mr. Wetston's term at the OSC, he has made a priority of expanding the regulator's enforcement scope with the creation of a new joint investigative team with the RCMP and the Ontario Provincial Police, which aims to prosecute more fraud cases in court.

He has also introduced new policies to enhance enforcement, including a whistle-blower payment scheme expected to begin next spring and a controversial policy that allows people to settle enforcement cases without having to admit wrongdoing.

He also oversaw the introduction of a major new policy requiring companies to report on the number of women they have in senior roles and disclose their approach to diversity in their hiring practices, which is aimed at encouraging more companies to improve their gender diversity.

Before joining the OSC, Mr. Wetston was chair of the Ontario Energy Board. He served as an OSC vice-chair earlier in his career and also headed the federal Competition Bureau and served six years as a federal court judge.