Decision in brief: Royal Bank of Canada, Enforcement Proceeding, Settlement, November 3, 2023
In this enforcement proceeding, OSC staff says that Royal Bank of Canada violated Ontario securities law by not properly accounting for the costs of small and large software projects that Royal Bank developed internally.
Royal Bank and OSC staff reached an agreement to settle this proceeding. This was a “no-contest” settlement which means that Royal Bank did not admit or deny what Staff says happened. Under the settlement, Royal Bank agreed to make a voluntary payment of $2,000,000 to the OSC. The Tribunal decided to approve the settlement because: Royal Bank took steps to correct its books and records before it was aware of the OSC’s investigation; Royal Bank fully cooperated with the investigation; there were no dishonest or abusive acts; and there was no harm to investors. Royal Bank reached similar agreements with Québec and US regulators.