Supreme Court of Canada Dismisses Appeal by Deloitte & Touche v. Ontario Securities Commission

"In short, like the Court of Appeal, I (Justice Iacobucci) find that the decision of the OSC was reasonable and soundly based with respect to the disclosure of all the compelled material to Philip and the officers to allow them in the circumstances to mount a full answer and defence. [...] There is a reasonable possibility that all of the compelled material relating to Deloitte's audit of Philip will be relevant to the allegations against Philip and the officers. Consequently, the application by the OSC of the relevance standard from Stinchcombe was reasonable in all the circumstances. [...]
 

The OSC admittedly has a discretion owing to its expertise to order disclosure of the compelled information if found to be in the public interest. Like Doherty J.A., I believe the OSC properly balanced the interests of disclosure to Philip and the officers along with the protection of the confidentiality expectations and interest of Deloitte. In this respect, I am of the view that in making a disclosure order in the public interest under s. 17, the OSC has a duty to parties like Deloitte to protect its privacy interests and confidences. That is to say that OSC is obligated to order disclosure only to the extent necessary to carry out its mandate under the Act. In this case, the OSC properly weighed the necessary disclosure and the interests of Deloitte."

The Supreme Court's reasons for decision are available at http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/.

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