Fintech Consultation

Interest in fintech has increased in recent years, and the BCSC is staying at the forefront of developments. Our regulatory approach to fintech is a supportive one, which facilitates new, more efficient paradigms while ensuring continued protection to investors, and emphasizing appropriate collaboration between industry and regulators.

CSA Collaboratory

The BC Securities Commission (BCSC) through participation in the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) supports and encourages innovation from the investment industry. We want to engage with market participants to better anticipate their needs in the face of rapid technological change.

The CSA launched a new online consultation and testing environment called “CSA Collaboratory” to explore the market impact and regulatory implications of new technologies and business models. This cohort-based approach plans to examine key topics in Canadian capital markets.

Data Portability - Closing Consultation Date: May 19, 2025

Data portability is the first CSA Collaboratory project, which seeks to consult with industry stakeholders from B.C. to share their knowledge and expertise. Our end-goal is to provide the CSA with a greater understanding of the impacts of data portability solutions and in particular the collection, analysis and transfer of client data, which is sometimes referred to as electronic Know-Your-Client (“e-KYC”) solutions.

More details about the consultation stage of the project, including questions for which the CSA is seeking comment, are provided in CSA Multilateral Discussion Paper 11-406, CSA Financial Innovation Hub Introduces Collaboratory and Data Portability Test. You can provide responses to the consultation questions by letter or directly through the CSA webform which can be found here. Please be sure to read the discussion paper before responding to the questions. 

If the data portability consultation and focused discussions progress to a test of technological tools or business strategies, eligible businesses would be allowed to simultaneously pilot those innovations in a controlled space, within pre-defined parameters and timeframes.

For questions about the proposal:

Khalil Jessa Senior Legal Counsel, Capital Markets Regulation British Columbia Securities Commission kjessa@bcsc.bc.ca

Elliott Mak Senior Legal Counsel, Corporate Finance British Columbia Securities Commission emak@bcsc.bc.ca

Past BCSC Consultations on Fintech and Innovation

To facilitate our regulatory approach, we consult regularly with local stakeholders about fintech developments and innovations in order to further understand novel business models. Some examples of this include:

• Our 2018 and 2019 consultations with crypto-asset trading platforms, to understand their operations, and to assist in formulating regulation tailored for their business models. For background information on some of the issues raised in these consultations, see CSA Consultation Paper 21-402 Proposed Framework for Crypto-Asset Trading Platforms.
• Our 2018 fintech notice and request for comment geared towards gathering input on potential ways to clarify and modernize BC securities laws. The notice summarized consultation activities in five key areas: crowdfunding and online lending, online advisers, crypto-asset funds, initial coin offerings, and fintech regulation in the future
• Our 2017 fintech outreach, which was geared towards understanding the challenges faced by the crowdfunding, robo-advising, and online lending sectors

Outside of formal consultations, we also receive comments on securities regulation through outreach activities conducted by our Fintech & Innovation Team, which we use to inform our regulatory approach going forward.

We conduct consultations on a periodic basis. To stay informed of consultations relevant to fintech and innovation, be sure to check our Fintech and Innovation page regularly. To stay up-to-date on all BCSC news, we encourage you to subscribe to our email notifications list. A subscription to this list will provide you with information on enforcement matters, BCSC events, news releases, and policy publications. We also post regular updates to our LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

BCSC Fintech and Innovation Team (FIT)

Our Fintech and Innovation Team (FIT) can answer questions regarding regulatory issues related to your business. FIT actively engages in outreach to the BC fintech community, and is interested in hearing from businesses, stakeholders, and entrepreneurs.

You can email the team at fit@bcsc.bc.ca or contact us through BCSC Contact Centre at 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 (toll free).