CARP is pleased that the Government of Alberta announced new legislative amendments to strengthen investor protection by giving regulatory authorities more effective tools to investigate and prosecute those who harm investors.
“We welcome today’s announcement as a critical step in bringing rule-breakers to justice and deterring wrong-doing, thus better protecting investors in this province,” says Wanda Morris, VP, Advocacy of CARP, Canada’s largest national advocacy group for older Canadians. “We look forward to additional, practical steps like this from the Government of Alberta.”
Minister of Finance Joe Ceci today introduced legislative amendments to the Securities Act (Alberta) that will enable investment regulatory authorities, such as the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), to more effectively collect evidence during investigations and prosecute wrongdoers.
“With these legislative changes, Alberta becomes the first province in Canada to provide IIROC with all the tools necessary to carry out our responsibilities as a public interest regulator determined to bring wrongdoers to justice,” said IIROC President and CEO Andrew J. Kriegler.
In addition, regulatory authority employees, officers, directors and disciplinary hearing adjudicators will now have protection against lawsuits for acting in good faith when carrying out their public interest mandate to protect investors.
With these new authorities IIROC will also receive the same legal immunity as that afforded to the Alberta Securities Council.
Prior to these legislative amendments, Alberta was the first jurisdiction in the country to grant IIROC the legal ability to enforce, through the courts, its fines against individuals and firms that engage in misconduct.
“Strong investor protection is a critical component of our mandate, and we support meaningful and practical regulatory advances such as this that can have a real impact on protecting Albertans from financial misconduct,” said Stan Magidson, Chair and Chief Executive of the ASC.
