OSC Bulletin Issue 37 Features IM Division Annual Report and Extension of Repo Relief for Funds

Key Takeaways

• The September 17, 2026 OSC Bulletin publishes Staff Notice 81-741 (the Investment Management Division Annual Summary Report), approval of an extension to the coordinated blanket order on repurchase transaction exemptions for investment funds, and a related CSA request for comment on proposed National Instrument 81-102 amendments.
• Investment fund managers and registrants should review these items for supervisory priorities, relief expiry and comment opportunities.
• The issue also carries Tribunal scheduling orders and several decisions that are mostly procedural.

Deep Dive

The September 17, 2026 OSC Bulletin publishes Staff Notice 81-741 (the Investment Management Division Annual Summary Report), approval of an extension to the coordinated blanket order on repurchase transaction exemptions for investment funds, and a related CSA request for comment on proposed National Instrument 81-102 amendments. Investment fund managers and registrants should review these items for supervisory priorities, relief expiry and comment opportunities. The issue also carries Tribunal scheduling orders and several decisions that are mostly procedural.

The Bulletin is a weekly compilation, and the excerpt provided includes only the table of contents, Tribunal notices and orders, and the opening pages of Staff Notice 81-741. The notice's contents list covers prospectus filings (crypto asset funds, 3x daily leveraged ETFs, single issuer ETFs, collateralized loan obligation ETFs), exemptive relief trends (crypto custody, international inter-fund trading), continuous disclosure reviews, and policy work on liquidity risk management, ETFs, crypto phases two and three, the access-based reporting model, and fee rule changes. The full text, including findings and deficiency themes, was truncated, so conclusions below are limited to what the headings indicate.

For investment fund managers, the key items are the Annual Summary Report and the Commission approval of the OSC Rule 81-931 extension to Coordinated Blanket Order 81-930, which relates to exemptions from certain repurchase transaction requirements. A CSA request for comment on proposed amendments to NI 81-102 on the same subject appears at B.6.1. The extension and the proposal suggest the relief may be moving toward permanent rule changes. The excerpt does not state the extension's length, the expiry date or the comment deadline. Teams should confirm these in the full documents.

The Tribunal items are procedural. In Emerita Resources, respondents must serve witness lists and expert indications by October 6, 2026, with a case management hearing on November 5, 2026. In SponsorsOne Brands, the witness list deadline is November 16, 2026, with a hearing on December 10, 2026. In Andre Itwaru, amended submissions are due September 22, 2026, the Commission's reply is due October 6, 2026, and the merits, sanctions and costs hearing is set for October 30, 2026. These matters impose no new obligations on regulated firms, but they are useful for enforcement trend monitoring. The Bulletin also lists decisions involving Fidelity Wealth ULC, Purpose Investments Inc. and CIX Trading Inc. (odd-lot and fractional trading exemptive relief), which may be relevant to peer firms.

Recommended actions:
- Obtain and read Staff Notice 81-741 in full, and map its findings against your fund prospectus, continuous disclosure, sales communications and compliance report practices.
- Confirm whether your funds rely on Blanket Order 81-930 and diarize its extended expiry.
- Decide whether to submit comments on the NI 81-102 proposal.
- Review crypto, leveraged and single-issuer ETF product governance against the stated staff observations.
- Track the Tribunal matters and the CIX Trading and Purpose Investments decisions for precedent.

The overall risk impact is moderate. There is no immediate new obligation in the excerpt, but the notice signals supervisory priorities and the repo relief status affects fund operations.

Source: Ontario Securities Commission