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💵💻 OSC, AMF and CIRO Approved First of its Kind Financial Services Platform Test in Canada

Wednesday, 11 March 2026 02:33.PM

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) provided approval to facilitate an experimental research project (Project Samara) conducted by a consortium that includes RBC Dominion Securities Inc., a member of RBC Capital Markets (RBC), RBC Investor Services Trust, the TD Securities division of the Toronto Dominion Bank, TD Securities Inc., the Bank of Canada (BoC) and Export Development Canada (EDC).

Project Samara evaluates a platform operated by RBC that uses distributed ledger technology to support end-to-end transactions throughout the bond lifecycle, including "tokenized" bond issuance by EDC, bidding, coupon payment, redemption, secondary trading, as well as the settlement of bond trades using digital representations of wholesale Canadian dollars created and managed by the BoC on the distributed ledger. The consortium will publish the key findings in a research report assessing the benefits of issuing and trading bonds using distributed ledger technology.

Project Samara highlights how the OSC, AMF and CIRO are advancing innovation in the Canadian capital markets through dedicated regulatory testing environments, including OSC LaunchPad, AMF Laboratory and CIRO's InnovateSafe.

"Canadian securities regulators are supporting responsible innovation in the capital markets by granting novel exemptive relief for tokenization pilots where investor protection and market integrity are appropriately addressed," said Leslie Byberg, Executive Vice President, Strategic Regulation, OSC. "We welcome industry proposals on tokenization initiatives that leverage these regulatory testing environments to enhance the competitiveness of Canadian markets."

There is a growing international consensus on the importance of consistent regulatory outcomes and harmonized standards to manage the risks and unlock the benefits of tokenization. Tokenization refers to the creation, issuance, or representation of assets using distributed ledger technologies. Globally, financial institutions and asset managers are launching tokenized products, while central banks and regulators are exploring new ways to support innovation while protecting investors and safeguarding financial stability.

"The regulatory platforms we provide will support the testing of novel market structures, business models and products by providing appropriate and tailored regulatory pathways to bring new platforms and products to market in Canada," said Hugo Lacroix, Superintendent, Securities Markets and Distribution, AMF. "Canada's regulators are committed to helping build Canadian markets for the future and supporting competitiveness."

In addition, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the council of securities regulators of Canada's provinces and territories, have recently launched Project Tokenization, a new theme in its CSA Collaboratory. This initiative aims to collaborate with stakeholders to examine issues arising from the use of tokenized products and their intersection with Canadian securities laws, supporting informed, coordinated responses to innovation in capital markets. The CSA invites stakeholders to express their interest in contributing to Project Tokenization by completing this survey.

SOURCE: Autorité des Marchés financiers

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