British Columbia Securities Commission seeks contribution from BC fintech firms

The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) announced a Tech Team of dedicated players as a part of its current outreach aimed at BC fintech and tech companies and also other stakeholders in the industry.

The BCSC has released an online survey and has invited anyone who is involved in the BC Tech sector, to complete the survey. The survey will be open until February 21, 2017, and BCSC is interested to hear from contributors, their ideas, innovation and experience in a move to learn more about the nascent sector.

“The BCSC supports innovation and the adoption of new technologies in the financial services sector. We understand that early-stage companies need access to capital and a clear regulatory framework to operate in. Through our Tech Team's active outreach, we will broaden our knowledge and understanding of the impacts of regulation, and provide fintech and tech companies with resources and information to help them succeed,” Brenda Leong, BCSC Chair, and CEO stated.

BCSC intends to use the information gathered through the survey and its ongoing outreach work to determine next steps.

It has also published a new tech industry web page and together with the survey, BCSC has been doing to support emerging investment advisory services, crowdfunding platforms, and online marketplace lenders.

“Our aim is to work with stakeholders to provide flexible and balanced regulation for innovative business models. We also need to assess whether securities regulations are keeping pace with the evolving tech landscape,” Leong added.

BCSC has presently registered 10 robo-advisory firms and also registered further nine portals as exempt market dealers. Working together with other Canadian securities regulators, BCSC supports the growth of fintech industry by facilitating timely and harmonized reviews of registration relief applications.