The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) is warning investors of the increased frequency of fraudsters impersonating CIRO. The fraudsters claim to be a CIRO employee and offering to assist investors in recovering funds that have been lost in previous scams after the victim pays a processing fee. This is referred to as an investment recovery scam.

SEE MORE

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) are extending the deadline for crypto platforms to rein in trading of unregulated stablecoins, that are tied to the value of a traditional currency. The original deadline of April 30, 2024, was pushed back to October 31. 2024, and now, the regulators are giving the crypto industry until December 31, 2024, to comply.

SEE MORE

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has released ‘Artificial Intelligence and Retail Investing: Scams and Effective Countermeasures,’. The study found AI-enhanced scams pose greater risks to investors than conventional scams, as it enables schemes involving deepfakes and voice cloning. The study also explored methods to safeguard investors from AI-enabled fraud and flag potential fraud.

SEE MORE

CIRO has provided an update on their website consolidation project. The Member sections of the legacy MFDA and IIROC and the Markets section found on the IIROC website, have been migrated. Member-related content has been organized into two sections: For Firms and For Registered Individuals. A Webcast Catalogue for Approved Persons to obtain Continuing Education (CE) credits is also available.

SEE MORE

CIRO’s webcast provides an overview of the conflicts of interest (COI) requirements in the Client Focused Reforms (CFR) that came into force on June 30, 2021. The webcast summarizes the joint regulatory sweep conducted by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), IIROC, and the MFDA, of firms’ COI practices. This webcast is one of the two mandatory compliance credits for the MFD CE Program for the 2023-2025 cycle.

SEE MORE

In keeping pace with the U.S. market reforms, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have initiated a process to evaluate their potential impact on the Canadian equity market structure following the release on recent rule changes announced by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

SEE MORE

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have released a series of proposed amendments for public comment, aimed to improve reporting to investors while also easing the regulatory burden on the industry. The focus is to improve the quality of information provided to investors while also reducing the regulatory burden on investment fund managers. The comment period closes on January 17, 2025.

SEEMORE

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) has just published its second annual report, Annual Report for 2023-2024, along with its inaugural Investor Advisory Panel (IAP) Annual Report, highlighting the achievements and strategic initiatives for 2023-24. CIRO is almost two years old and says the past year has seen substantial progress in its aims to deliver efficient and cost-effective services.

SEE MORE

The FP Canada Standards Council Conduct Review Panel (CRP) has published practice guidance for Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professionals and Qualified Associate Financial Planner (QAFP) professionals. The guidance addresses the responsibilities of CFP and QAFP professionals when withdrawing services from their clients, referring clients to other professionals and changing firms or employers.

SEE MORE

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization’s (CIRO) has determined it will not proceed with proposals to allow mutual fund dealers the ability to offer discretionary accounts, managed accounts and order-execution-only accounts, as part of the rulebook consolidation project. Future proposal development will take place in consultation with the Canadian Securities Administrators, (CSA) as part of a separate policy project, with a separate timeline.

SEE MORE