Toronto – March is Fraud Prevention Month and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) are encouraging the public to research investments when making any investing decisions. The CSA recommend that investors follow these three easy steps:

1.     Check registration and any disciplinary information of the person or company selling or advising about securities. The CSA National Registration Search (NRS) is a simple, free and recently updated tool that investors can use to check registration, categories of registration and any disciplinary information about registrants all in one place. The CSA recently redesigned the NRS webpage to help investors check an adviser’s current registration more quickly and easily. Since January, the CSA has been promoting the use of the NRS tool with an online advertising campaign.

2.     Check available tools and resources that the CSA offers to assist the public in learning how to protect their investments. Investors can make informed decisions if they learn how to identify the red flags of investing and use important sources of information such as the CSA Disciplined List and Cease Trade Orders database.

3.     Check the news and search online to see if there are any news releases, investor alerts or other information about the company or person.

“CSA investor education tools and resources are designed to help Canadians to be informed investors, which is one of the best defences against investment fraud,” said Louis Morisset, Chair of the CSA and President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers. “The CSA is here to help investors protect their money and learn how to avoid investment fraud. It starts with checking the registration of the person or company selling or advising you about investment products.”

The CSA invites investors across Canada to participate in the annual Check Registration Day on Wednesday, March 16, 2016. Checking registration is easy and a great step to take in preventing investment fraud. During Fraud Prevention Month, follow the hashtag #FPM2016 or tweets from @CSA_News for additional helpful tips and information on being a smart investor and preventing fraud.

The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada’s provinces and territories, co-ordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian financial markets.

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