The province has passed legislation that gives more legal authority to a national regulator to protect investors.
The passage of Bill 47, which amends the province’s Securities Act, was announced earlier this month. The legislation gives the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) the “improved ability to collect evidence during the regulator’s investigations (as well as) protection against malicious lawsuits while acting in good faith to carry out its public interest mandate to protect investors,” a news release said.
“By making these changes, P.E.I. is sending a strong message of deterrence to potential wrongdoers: If you break IIROC’s rules, there will be serious consequences,” said Andrew J. Kriegler, president and CEO of the national public-interest regulator that oversees investment dealers and trading activity in Canada’s debt and equity markets.
P.E.I. is the fourth province to grant the IIROC a “complete legal toolkit of enforcement measures,” which involves the authority to collect fines, collect and present evidence and statutory immunity.
