The securities regulatory authorities of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Yukon, and Northwest Territories have announced proposed changes to the assurance report requirements for designated benchmarks to address technical issues that accounting firms have encountered when preparing these reports.
The proposed amendments to Multilateral Instrument 25-102, which governs Designated Benchmarks and Benchmark Administrators, include several significant changes. Firstly, the amendments propose to repeal or revise certain existing definitions and introduce a new definition of “reasonable assurance report on controls.” This change aims to enhance clarity and ensure the terminology used is precise and relevant to current practices.
In addition, the scope of the assurance report requirements will be broadened to include all designated benchmark administrators. Currently, the requirements apply only to administrators of designated commodity benchmarks, designated critical benchmarks, and designated interest rate benchmarks. The proposed changes will extend these requirements to administrators of other designated benchmarks, ensuring a more comprehensive regulatory framework.
The proposed amendments also include modifications to various provisions to provide greater clarity and guidance to the parties responsible for preparing the assurance reports. These technical adjustments are intended to streamline the reporting process and resolve the issues accounting firms have faced.
The regulatory authorities are inviting public comments on the proposed amendments. Interested parties should submit their comments in writing by August 28. This consultation period allows stakeholders to provide input and ensure that the amendments effectively address the challenges identified.
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the council of the securities regulators of Canada’s provinces and territories, coordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets. These proposed changes are part of the CSA's mandate to maintain a robust and transparent regulatory framework. By addressing the technical issues in the current assurance report requirements and expanding their scope, the CSA hopes to enhance the reliability and comprehensiveness of reports prepared by benchmark administrators.
Public feedback is crucial in this process, and the CSA encourages all interested parties to participate in the consultation. The input received will help shape the final amendments, ensuring that they meet the market's needs.