Canadian Crypto Regulation: Right Approach? What's Next?

Canadian Crypto Regulation: Right Approach? What's Next?

Co-Hosted By: Rotman FinHub and Capital Markets Institute

Debra Foubert, Director, Compliance and Registrant Regulation, Ontario Securities Commission

Dan Padro, Director of Policy, Credit Unions, Insurance Prudential & Pensions, Financial Services Regulatory Authority

Andreas Park, Research Director, Rotman FinHub; Professor of Finance, Department of Management, University of Toronto Mississauga and Rotman School of Management

Poonam Puri, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

Blair Wiley, Chief Legal Officer, Wealthsimple

Host: Alexander Dyck, Director, Capital Markets Institute, Rotman School of Management

Synopsis:

The regulation of Crypto Assets is a global issue of growing concern. In the US, the Financial Stability oversight council reports that “widespread adoption of digital assets poses risk if the market continues to grow without better oversight and enforcement.” Does the Canadian approach offer a viable solution? Grant Vingoe, OSC CEO, suggests as much in a speech on October 6, 2022, “In Canada, we have been at the forefront of bringing crypto assets into the regulatory perimeter to give genuine innovators room to develop their ideas while still protecting investors. We have taken many concrete measures while others continue to struggle with definitions and fight jurisdictional battles…. Some of the largest platforms in the world … see the reputational value of being within the regulatory perimeter and competing on a level playing field. Well-run firms tend to be receptive to a reasonable approach that includes open conversations, manageable deadlines, and an efficient onboarding process.”

This half-day event, co-sponsored by the Capital Markets Institute and FinHub of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, will examine the Canadian regulatory approach to crypto assets, considering its benefits and costs, and comparing its approach globally. The event will bring together regulators, critics, platform operators and academics, with knowledge of the Canadian and global crypto asset environments. The event will address the following questions through both presentations, panel discussions and Q&A with the audience:

• Reviewing the Canadian regulatory approach to date, what has been successful, and what are areas of concern?
• What has been the role of regulation, relative to other factors, in recent market developments?
• Should Canadian regulation change, in what direction, and to what extent will this be dictated from abroad?

About our Speakers:

Debra Foubert, Director, Compliance and Registrant Regulation, Ontario Securities Commission

Debra Foubert is the Director, Compliance and Registrant Regulation (CRR) at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). She has over 25 years of experience in compliance and regulatory oversight in Canada and the United States. She joined the OSC in October 2012. The CRR Branch is responsible for the initial and ongoing registration and compliance oversight of firms and individuals who advise or trade in securities and firms that manage investment funds in Ontario. Prior to joining the OSC, Debra held the position of Associate Vice President, Compliance for TD Bank Group with compliance oversight responsibility for the investment management businesses. She also held progressively senior compliance roles at RBC Financial Group. In 2010, Debra was seconded to the OSC for a one-year term as Director, Derivatives Branch. While in the United States she started her career at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and then moved to the private sector in compliance roles at several U.S. firms. Debra has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Toledo and a Juris Doctor from the University of Toledo College of Law.

Andreas Park, Research Director, Rotman FinHub; Professor of Finance, Department of Management, University of Toronto Mississauga and Rotman School of Management

Andreas Park is a Professor of Finance at the University of Toronto, appointed to the Rotman School of Management and the Department of Management at UTM. He currently serves as the Research Director at the FinHub, Rotman’s Financial Innovation Lab. He previously served as a lab economist for the Blockchain stream at the Creative Destruction Lab, and as a consultant and advisor to various FIs, regulators, and blockchain projects. He was recently awarded the Canadian Securities Institute’s Limit-Term Professorship. Andreas teaches courses on payments innovation, decentralized finance, and financial market trading, and his current research focuses on the economic impact of technological transformations such as blockchain technology. He recently co-authored a design proposal for a central-bank issued digital currency, commissioned by the Bank of Canada.

Dan Padro, Director of Policy, Credit Unions, Insurance Prudential & Pensions, Financial Services Regulatory Authority

Dan Padro is Director, Policy – Credit Union, Insurance Prudential and Pensions at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA). He leads the development of rules and guidance relating to FSRA’s regulatory and supervisory activities for credit unions, prudential oversight of insurance companies, pensions, loan and trust, and co-operative sectors. Dan has extensive financial services policy expertise and experience in both the Ontario and federal public sectors. Throughout his career, he has held positions in financial services policy with the Ontario Ministry of Finance, the former Financial Services Commission of Ontario, the federal Department of Finance and the Insurance Bureau of Canada. He has led and participated in a number of important initiatives impacting Ontario’s financial services sector including previous reviews of Ontario’s credit union legislative framework and the recent development of new FSRA Rules under the Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Act, 2020. Dan holds a Master of Business Administration from York University’s Schulich School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from York University.

Poonam Puri, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

A world leading expert in corporate governance, corporate law and securities law, Poonam Puri is a tenured professor of business law and corporate governance at Osgoode Hall Law School. Poonam currently serves as a board director of Colliers (TSX, NASDAQ) and the Canada Infrastructure Bank. She is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto. A former commissioner and board director of the Ontario Securities Commission, Poonam is also a former director of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, CAPREIT and Women’s College Hospital. Appointed to Osgoode Hall Law School 25 years ago, and an Affiliated Scholar with Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Poonam was recently awarded the Peter Dey Governance Achievement Award (2022), the Law Society Medal (2021), the David Walter Mundell Medal (2020) and the Royal Society of Canada’s 2021 Yvan Allaire Medal for excellence in contributions to the governance of public and private organizations in Canada. Poonam has been previously recognized as one of Canada’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers, one of Canada's 100 Most Powerful Women and one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 leaders. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law (LL.B., 1995, Silver Medalist) and Harvard Law School (LL.M., 1997).

Blair Wiley, Chief Legal Officer, Wealthsimple

Blair Wiley is the Chief Legal Officer of Wealthsimple, where he is responsible for Wealthsimple's legal, compliance, risk and public policy programs. Blair led Wealthsimple's successful effort to become Canada's first regulated cryptocurrency trading platform, and was named “Crypto Royalty” in Toronto Life’s Most Influential Torontonians of 2021. Prior to joining Wealthsimple, Blair was a partner at the law firm of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Blair studied at University of Waterloo and Osgoode Hall Law School.

Event Logistics:

This event is available to attend in-person.

Rotman Events is committed to accessibility for all people. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your full participation in this session, please email Kathleen Coulson (kathleen.coulson@rotman.utoronto.ca) no later than 2 weeks in advance of the event and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.

General Admission: In-Person Ticket Details

• The event will be hosted in Desautels Hall at the Rotman School of Management (105 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3E6).

Questions: Kathleen Coulson | kathleen.coulson@rotman.utoronto.ca