Syndicated mortgage reform: Good for the industry?

The Ontario government announced changes to how syndicated mortgages will be regulated; have your say on the change today

Syndicated mortgage reform: Good for the industry?
The Ontario government announced changes to how syndicated mortgages will be regulated; have your say on the change today.

Ontario’s budget, released late last week, included an announcement that the Financial Securities Commision of Ontario (FSCO) will soon hand over the regulatory reins for syndicated mortgages to the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). Let us know your thoughts on the move by taking our poll.

The shift in oversight is similar to how syndicated mortgages are regulated in other provinces, where they are treated as securities.

No timeline has yet been established for the official change.

“The government will work with regulators to plan an orderly transfer of the oversight of these products,” the budget document says.

The regulatory shift was suggested last year by an expert panel that studied FSCO’s regulatory practices. The panel argued syndicated mortgages should be regulated in a similar way to securities.

And it seems the government has listened.

The controversial investment option – which have been popular among some mortgage brokers as a diversified offering for clients – have been under fire lately, with projects and payments to investors delayed across the country.

Most recently, 120 Chinese investors were allegedly bilked out of $9 million.

Toronto real estate lawyer David Franklin was featured in the CBC claiming over $1 billion of investor money may have been lost in Ontario alone.

The budget also claimed there will be a cap on the limit Ontarians will be allowed to invest in these types of mortgages.