March is Fraud Prevention Month: Three steps to protect yourself from investment fraud

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.

For more information:

Kristen Rose
Ontario Securities Commission
416-593-2336

Mark Dickey
Alberta Securities Commission
403-297-4481

Richard Gilhooley
British Columbia Securities Commission
604-899-6713

Sylvain Théberge
Autorité des marchés financiers
514-940-2176

Ainsley Cunningham
Manitoba Securities Commission
204-945-4733

Andrew Nicholson
Financial and Consumer Services
Commission, New Brunswick
506-658-3021

Tanya Wiltshire
Nova Scotia Securities Commission
902-424-8586

Janice Callbeck
Office of the Superintendent of Securities
P.E.I.
902-368-6288

John O’Brien
Office of the Superintendent of Securities
Newfoundland and Labrador
709-729-4909

Rhonda Horte
Office of the Yukon Superintendent of
Securities
867-667-5466

Jeff Mason
Nunavut Securities Office
867-975-6591

Tom Hall
Northwest Territories
Securities Office
867-767-9305

Shannon McMillan
Financial and Consumer Affairs
Authority of Saskatchewan
306-798-4160