Highlights From The Annual Canadian Securities Administrators' Enforcement Report

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) released its 2016 Enforcement Report this week. The ninth annual report highlights efforts taken across the country to deter and sanction wrongdoing in capital markets.

The CSA's mandate is to facilitate Canada's securities regulatory system, protecting investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices. One of the ways that the CSA hopes to fulfill its mandate is to streamline the regulatory process for companies wishing to raise capital, and for parties working in the investment industry.

"In 2016, CSA members continued with efforts to deter and sanction financial wrongdoing, with two jurisdictions implementing whistleblower programs, and a third partnering with law enforcement," said Louis Morisset, Chair of the CSA and President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers. "The CSA is also addressing emerging issues, for example by creating a task force with financial institutions and international regulatory counterparts to address the growing threat of binary options investing, and developing a new national market analytics software program to identify potential misconduct."

Highlights from the 2016 Enforcement Report include:

39 years of jail time ordered for those committing securities-related misconduct. $299 million in compensation that respondents undertook to return to investors through no-contest settlements and $51 million in restitution and disgorgement orders. 120 people and 82 companies placed under interim and asset freeze orders, preventing further harm to investors. The release of this report is timely, as the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) just clarified an aspect of securities litigation, holding there will be no jury trials for securities offences. On February 24, 2017, the SCC dismissed two appeals from Alberta defendants seeking a right to trial by jury for Securities Act offences. The decision upheld the December 2015 rulings of the...