The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has announced 7 firms that will participate in its Fintech sandbox called TestLab.
The OSC TestLab is a dedicated testing environment for firms to try out new approaches to regulation aimed at reducing burden, promoting economic growth, and fostering capital formation in Ontario’s capital markets. Applications for this group of firms was opened in November 2021 with a deadline of January 31, 2022.
The following firms have been selected to participate in TestLab, offering diverse services including product comparison, client onboarding, portfolio analytics and assessment tools:
- Broadridge Investor Communications Corporation
- LockDocs Inc.
- Mako Fintech
- Morningstar Research Inc.
- Syntoniq, Inc.
- TMX Group
- Wealthscope
Pat Chaukos, Director of the Innovation Office at the OSC commented:
“We are pleased to see such a strong response to our first test, which harnesses the collaborative power of people, ideas and expertise. OSC TestLab is a unique opportunity to effect change and support innovation in our capital markets.”
The OSC notes that this is first for Canada. The OSC believes that insights from testing can provide valuable input to inform the OSC’s efforts to modernize Ontario’s regulatory environment while providing innovators a sandbox environment to try out new services.
The Sandbox concept was pioneered by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and has since been replicated by certain regulators around the world.
Ontario is the most robust market for financial services in Canada, a country that regulates these firms at the provincial level.
