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The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA; , ACVM) is an
umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...
of Canada's provincial and territorial securities regulators whose objective is to improve, coordinate, and harmonize regulation of the Canadian
capital market A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, in contrast to a money market where short-term debt is bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers ...
s. The CSA's national systems include the National Registration Database (NRD), a web-based database that allows security dealers and investment advisors to file registration forms electronically; the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI), an online, browser-based service for the filing and viewing of insider trading reports;SEDI
/ref> and the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR), a publicly-accessible database that contains all the required non-confidential filings related to
publicly traded A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
Canadian companies. The CSA serves a regulatory function comparable to that of the
Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...
(SEC) and the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures contract, fut ...
(CFTC) in the United States.


History

As an informal body, the CSA originally functioned primarily through meetings, conference calls, and day-to-day collaborations with the various territorial and provincial securities regulatory authorities. In 2003, the CSA was restructured into a more formal organization, in which the chair and vice-chair were elected by members to 2-year terms. In 2004, the CSA established a permanent
secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...
, located in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. Among other things, the secretariat monitors and coordinates the work of various CSA committees on policy initiatives. In 2016, the CSA adopted a passport system through which market participants can access to markets in all passport jurisdictions by dealing only with its principal regulator and complying with one set of harmonized laws. While the CSA co-ordinates initiatives on a cross-Canada basis, the 10 provinces and 3 territories in Canada are responsible for securities regulations and their enforcement. This provides a more direct and efficient service since each regulator is closer to its local investors and market participants.


Structure

The CSA established a permanent Secretariat in March 2004 in Montreal to provide the organizational stability necessary for CSA to function efficiently. The CSA Secretariat also monitors and coordinates the work of various CSA committees on policy initiatives.


Members

The CSA consists of the securities regulators of the 10 provincial and 3 territorial governments of Canada. The CSA Chairs are the respective chairs of the securities regulators of the 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada. They meet quarterly in person. A chair and vice-chair of the CSA are elected by members for two year terms.


Committees


Standing and project committees

Each CSA member has its own staff who work on policy development and deliver regulatory programs through their participation in CSA Committees, which can include permanent committees and project committees. The latter are formed to work on specific policy projects, and can deal with subjects such as short- and long-form prospectuses, continuous disclosure, proportionate regulation, and investor confidence.
Standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
s include: Executive Directors, Enforcement, Market Oversight, Registrant Regulation, Investment Funds and Investor Education.


Policy Coordination Committee

In August 2003, the CSA established the Policy Coordination Committee, which oversees CSA's policy development initiatives, facilitates decision-making, as well as acting as a forum for resolution of policy development issues, monitors ongoing issues, and provides recommendations to the CSA chairs for their resolution. Its members are the chairs of eight regulators—Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec, and Saskatchewan. , the committee's chair is Grant Vingoe, the acting chair and
Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of the
Ontario Securities Commission The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC; French language, French: ''Commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario'') is a regulation, regulatory agency which administers and enforces security (finance), securities legislation in the Canadian p ...
.


CSA disclosure systems

The CSA maintains several databases that contain information on
public companies A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...
' disclosure and insider reporting, the registration of dealers and advisers, and a cease trade order database (CTO). * System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) — the system that public companies and investment funds use to file public securities documents and information with the CSA. There is also a
XBRL XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a freely available global framework for exchanging business information. XBRL allows the expression of semantics commonly required in business reporting. The standard was originally based on X ...
Filing Program within SEDAR. SEDAR is the Canadian equivalent of the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...
's
EDGAR Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...
. * System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI) — Canada's online, browser-based service for the filing and viewing of insider trading reports as required by various provincial securities rules and regulations. * National Registration Database (NRD) — a web-based system that permits dealers and advisers to file registration forms electronically. The National Registration Search (NRS) contains the names of all registrants (individuals and firms) in Canada.national registration search
/ref> * National CTO Database — the cease trade order publicly searchable database, contains all orders issued by participating CSA members, regardless of whether their effect is temporary or indefinite, and disseminates such orders to CTO subscribers.


National Registration Database

The National Registration Database (NRD) is a Canadian web-based database that allows security dealers and investment advisors to file registration forms electronically. (An individual or company in Canada who trades or underwrites securities, or provides investment advice, must register annually with one or more provincial securities regulators.) Created to replace the original paper form system, the NRD increases the efficiency of information filing and
sharing Sharing is the joint use of a resource or space. It is also the process of dividing and distributing. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of inherently finite goods, such as a common pasture or a shared residence. Still ...
between provincial security regulators. In 2001, the CSA commissioned a study that estimated the total economic benefits of such a database to the Canadian
financial services industry Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and discipline of money, currency, assets and liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business Administration wich study the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of an o ...
would be $85 million over a 5-year period. The NRD was subsequently launched in 2003, initiated by the CSA and the
Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...
(IIROC). The NRD has two websites: the NRD Information Website, which contains information for the public; and the National Registration Database, for use by authorized representatives. The National Registration Search (NRS) contains the names of all registrants (individuals and firms) in Canada.


System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval

The System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) is a mandatory, electronic document filing and retrieval system that allows listed Canadian
public companies A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...
to report their securities-related information with Canada's securities regulation authorities. It is operated and administered by CGI Information Systems and Management Consultants Inc. (CGI), the filing service contractor appointed by the Canadian Securities Administrators. It is similar to
EDGAR Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...
, the filing system operated by the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...
for American public companies. Through registered filing agents, public companies file documents such as prospectuses,
financial statements Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity. Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to un ...
, and material change reports. In the interest of transparency and full disclosure, these documents are accessible to the public. The reports that are available on SEDAR indicate the fiscal health of public companies and investment funds, and investors who want specific materials on a specific company can search the SEDAR database for the company or investment fund. These searches can be made by company name, industry group, document type or date filed; its results are rendered in
PDF format Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating system ...
. The SEDAR database was established by the CSA in 1997. Documents filed with regulators prior to the implementation of SEDAR may be available from the individual securities commissions; however, in the case of the
British Columbia Securities Commission The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) is a regulatory agency which administers and enforces securities legislation in the Canadian province of British Columbia. See also * Canadian securities regulation * Securities Commission * Ca ...
, historical filings are unretrievable and may have been destroyed. On July 25, 2023, the CSA transitioned from SEDAR to SEDAR+. SEDAR+ improves on the original database by consolidating it with the national Cease Trade Order and Disciplined List (DL) databases. Other updated features include extended operating hours, an integrated fee calculator, and a portal for filing exemptive relief applications.


Regulatory cooperation

Regulatory cooperation occurs both at national and international levels for the CSA. Among themselves, CSA members work closely in the development of new policy initiatives and the continuous improvement of the regulatory framework for securities. They further coordinate its regulatory initiatives with the Joint Forum of Financial Services. Various CSA members are also active in international organizations such the
North American Securities Administrators Association The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), founded in Kansas in 1919, is the oldest international investor protection organization. NASAA is an association of state securities administrators who are charged with the respo ...
(NASAA), Council of Securities Regulators of the Americas (COSRA), and the
International Organization of Securities Commissions International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
(IOSCO), representing North-American, Pan-American, and international securities regulators respectively.


Pan-Canadian cooperation


"Passport" system

Passport is a regulatory system that provides market participants automatic access to the
capital market A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, in contrast to a money market where short-term debt is bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers ...
s in all Canadian jurisdictions, except
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, by registering only with its principal regulator and meeting the requirements of one set of harmonized laws. In brief, the system provides market participants with streamlined access to Canada's capital markets. Participants of the Passport system are the governments of all Canadian provinces and territories, excluding Ontario. To access the market in Ontario, non-Ontario market participants may use an interface system in which the
Ontario Securities Commission The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC; French language, French: ''Commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario'') is a regulation, regulatory agency which administers and enforces security (finance), securities legislation in the Canadian p ...
(OSC) makes its own decisions, but generally relies on the review by the principal regulator. To achieve maximum efficiency for the benefit of the market, the passport regulators accept the OSC's decisions under Passport.


Joint Forum of Financial Markets Regulators

The Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators coordinates and streamlines the regulation of products and services in the Canadian
financial market A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives at low transaction costs. Some of the securities include stocks and bonds, raw materials and precious metals, which are known in the financial marke ...
s. The Forum includes representatives of the CSA, along with those of the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) and the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA); it also includes representation from the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations (CISRO). The Joint Forum was founded in 1999 by CSA, CCIR, and CAPSA.


Other activities


Harmonization of securities regulations

The CSA brings together provincial and territorial securities regulators to share information and design policies and regulations that are consistent across the country, ensuring the smooth operation of Canada's securities industry. By collaborating on rules, regulations, and other programs, the CSA helps avoid duplication of work and streamlines the regulatory process for companies seeking to raise
investment capital In economics, capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. A typical example is the machinery used in a factory. At the macroeconomic level ...
and others working in the investment industry. As a result of the coordination efforts of the CSA, securities markets are governed by harmonized national or multilateral instruments, which are assigned uniform 5-digit numbers, starting with a number that represents one of the 9 subject matter categories: :# Procedure and Related Matters :# Certain Capital Market Participants :# Registration Requirements and Related Matters :# Distribution Requirements :# Ongoing Requirements for Issuers and Insiders :# Takeover Bids and Special Transactions :# Securities Transactions Outside the Jurisdiction :#
Investment Funds An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...
:# Derivatives


Investor education

The CSA's impact on most Canadians comes through its efforts to help educate Canadians about the securities industry, the stock markets and how to protect investors from investment scams. The CSA provides a wide variety of educational materials on securities and investing. It has produced brochures and booklets explaining various topics such as how to choose a financial adviser, mutual funds, and investing via the internet. The CSA coordinates various annual investor education initiatives, including the Financial Literacy Month in November and the Fraud Prevention Month in March.


Communications and public information tools

The CSA publishes on its website a wide range of communications and public information tools, including news releases regarding newly adopted or proposed national or multilateral rules and regulations, investor education materials, enforcement reports and materials and investor research studies. * Annual Enforcement Report — While most enforcement activity is conducted locally, CSA members also coordinate multi-jurisdictional investigations and share tools and techniques that help their staff investigate and prosecute securities law violations that cross borders. Every year, the CSA publishes on its website an Enforcement Report, which provides an overview of enforcement actions taken by CSA members in such broad categories as fraud, illegal distribution, misconduct by registrants, illegal
insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...
, disclosure violations, and
market manipulation In economics and finance, market manipulation occurs when someone intentionally alters the supply or demand of a security to influence its price. This can involve spreading misleading information, executing misleading trades, or manipulating ...
. * Investor Alerts — The CSA maintains on its website a non-exhaustive list of CSA member investor alerts to assist the public and the securities industry in conducting due diligence. The subjects of these alerts are persons and/or companies who appear to be engaging in securities activities that may pose a risk to investors. * Disciplined Persons Listdisciplined persons list
/ref> — The disciplined persons list, maintained by the CSA on its website, is intended to assist the public and the securities industry in conducting due diligence. It contains orders issued by its members, as well as those issued by
self-regulatory organization Self-regulation may refer to: *Emotional self-regulation *Self-control, in sociology/psychology *Self-regulated learning, in educational psychology *Self-regulation theory (SRT), a system of conscious personal management *Industry self-regulation, ...
s (SROs).


See also

Canada *
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (, FCAC) is an agency of the Government of Canada that enforces consumer protection legislation, regulations and industry commitments by federally regulated financial entities. It also provides programs an ...
* Autorité des marchés financiers (Québec) * Alberta Securities Commission *
Ontario Securities Commission The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC; French language, French: ''Commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario'') is a regulation, regulatory agency which administers and enforces security (finance), securities legislation in the Canadian p ...
*
British Columbia Securities Commission The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) is a regulatory agency which administers and enforces securities legislation in the Canadian province of British Columbia. See also * Canadian securities regulation * Securities Commission * Ca ...
Other *
International Organization of Securities Commissions International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
(IOSCO) *
North American Securities Administrators Association The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), founded in Kansas in 1919, is the oldest international investor protection organization. NASAA is an association of state securities administrators who are charged with the respo ...
(NASAA) *
List of stock exchanges A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
List of stock exchanges in the Americas This is a list of active stock exchanges in the Americas. Stock exchanges in Latin America (where Spanish and Portuguese prevail) use the term ''Bolsa de Valores'', meaning "bag" or "purse" of "values". (compare Börse in German or bourse i ...
*
List of stock exchanges in the Commonwealth of Nations This is a list of active stock exchanges in the Commonwealth of Nations (Full Members). The Commonwealth of Nations features member-states located on all major continents and represents almost one-third of the Earth's population. Some states ha ...
*
List of financial regulatory authorities by jurisdiction In this list of financial regulatory and supervisory authorities, central banks are only listed where they act as direct supervisors of individual financial firms, and competition authorities and takeover panels are not listed unless they are set ...


External links

*
SEDAR searches


References

{{Economy of Canada footer Financial regulation in Canada Securities (finance) Securities industry in Canada