The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has released its annual report, highlighting moves to collaborate with government authorities, other regulators and market participants particularly in the last quarter of the 2019/2020 fiscal year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and drove immense economic uncertainty.
“Our mission to safeguard investors and ensure that Canada’s capital markets are honest, fair and efficient has never been more important than it is today,” said Louis Morisset, chair of the CSA and president and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers.
Latest report highlights effectiveness of regulators
In his message, Morisset said the results of the 2019/20 Enforcement Report demonstrate the effectiveness of Canada’s securities regulators in monitoring market participants and upholding securities laws.
These include:
-
66 Investor alerts were issued to warn the public about possible investment scams;
-
65 individuals were banned from participating in the capital markets;
-
95 interim cease-trade and asset-freeze orders were issued;
-
Four individuals received a combined total of 18 years and 11 months years of jail time through regulators’ support of Criminal Code case investigations;
-
23 fraud cases were concluded, resulting in over $3 million in penalties; and
-
291 whistleblower tips were received.
CSA to launch new system to identify market misconduct
The CSA is preparing to launch the Market Analysis Platform, a data repository and analytics system that will help members identify and analyze market misconduct. Through training sessions and shared digital resources, members are exchanging their insights into certain specialized tactics, such as open source intelligence, and leveraging tools to better recognize and target fraudulent activity.
