Regulatory Integration and Evolution Continue — CIRO Releases Second Annual Report
The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) has released its Annual Report for the 2024 fiscal year. The report demonstrates the organization’s progress towards integrating its two predecessor organizations and highlights critical steps taken to evolve the regulatory framework and create efficiencies for stakeholders.
Established in 2023, CIRO is the pan-Canadian self-regulatory organization that oversees investment dealers, mutual fund dealers and trading activity on Canada’s debt and equity marketplaces.
Achievements at a Glance
CIRO is focused on regulatory evolution that will deliver efficient, cost-effective services to members and the industry, the report says. In the past fiscal year, more than 22,000 member branches and more than 109,000 approved persons were regulated by CIRO. CIRO’s market surveillance activities included monitoring 223 billion traded shares while more than $4 trillion in trade value was monitored.
The Enforcement department harmonized Sanction Guidelines and adopted new Enforcement Staff Policy Statements to support consistent and efficient regulation for investment dealers and mutual fund dealers in Canada.
The Market Regulation department collaborated with the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) to publish a consultation paper on short selling and stood up a working group to review policy options raised by commentators. Market Regulation also developed regulatory frameworks for crypto asset platforms and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and initiated a project to expand cross-asset capabilities to review and monitor M-X futures products compared to debt underlying products.
Meanwhile, Member Policy completed Phase 1 and 2 of the Rule Consolidation Project, and received comments on Phase 3. Phase 4 is set to be released for comment in autumn 2024 and Phase 5 will be rolled out in the spring of 2025. A key milestone was achieved earlier in the year, when the Autorité des marchés financiers of Quebec approved delegation of powers to CIRO to register mutual fund dealer representatives and conduct compliance examinations. In Ontario, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario approved CIRO as a credentialling body for the Financial Advisor title.
Investor Advisory Panel – Engaging with Investors
CIRO’s mission is to promote healthy capital markets by regulating fairly and effectively so that investors feel protected and confident investing in their futures. The new Investor Advisory Panel (IAP), along with CIRO’s Office of the Investor, serves an important role in helping CIRO protect Canadian investors. Activities of the IAP are outlined in their own IAP Annual Report issued as a companion to CIRO’s.
Acting as an investor advocate within CIRO, IAP highlights key issues impacting Canadian investors—from fraud and scams to crypto trading, budgeting tools to retirement preparedness. The IAP engages external investor advocacy groups to align priorities and initiatives within CIRO. This year, the IAP also provided input on key CIRO initiatives such as the disgorgement proposal, short selling requirements, proficiency model and on complaint handling, and provided CIRO with critical direction on its three-year strategic plan, providing the organization with a north star for its objectives and priorities into 2027.