IFIC responds to rumours of OSC charges

(July 26, 2004) If the Ontario Securities Commission is planning on laying any charges in its probe of the mutual fund industry, it hasn’t mentioned it to the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC), according to the fund industry’s trade association.

A report published in Friday’s National Post indicated the OSC was on the verge of laying charges against industry players as a result of its probe into late-trading and market-timing abuses. The report mentioned “an undisclosed number of mutual fund managers” would face charges.

“The Investment Funds Institute of Canada remains committed to working cooperatively with the Ontario Securities Commission in its investigation of fund trading practices,” IFIC said in a press release. “We have no information about the OSC laying any charges. The OSC has informed us that they expect to make the results of their probe public in late August.”

By Monday morning, there was no mention of impending charges on the OSC Web site.

“We can’t comment on hypothetical issues. At this point, we have no information about the OSC’s next steps,” the release stated. “We will await the results of their investigation.”

Filed by Steven Lamb, Advisor.ca, steven.lamb@advisor.rogers.com