The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) today announced plans to establish an Expert Investor Issues Panel (EIIP) and that it will seek input in a notice for comments that will be published later this year.
IIROC's Investor Research Panel - a pool of 10,000 Canadian investors - already offers direct input through quantitative online surveys conducted by an independent, external research firm. The EIIP will be a critical, additional layer to these efforts already conducted by IIROC to gauge the public's views on regulatory initiatives and/or other public interest matters. The EIIP will enable individuals with a wide variety of experience and expertise related to investors to provide valuable input into IIROC's mandate to protect investors and support healthy capital markets.
"As a pan-Canadian regulator with an investor protection mandate, it is critical to give Canadian investors a voice in IIROC’s decision-making processes," says Andrew J. Kriegler, IIROC's President and CEO. "Now, IIROC will go one step further by establishing a panel of experts to advise on investor issues."
IIROC is reviewing panels from other regulators and jurisdictions, such as the Ontario Securities Commission's Investor Advisory Panel, the Autorité des marchés financiers' Financial Products and Services Consumer Advisory Committee, and FINRA's Investor Issues Committee.
Ahead of forming the panel, IIROC will seek feedback from individuals with established roles in the investor landscape – including those with backgrounds in investor education, consumer outreach, seniors and/or vulnerable investor issues, professional regulation, financial services, government, public policy, and/or academics. IIROC will also conduct a search for qualified members of its panel.
In forming the EIIP, IIROC will continue to ensure an appropriate balance in interests and views of all stakeholders. IIROC will also continue to use qualitative and quantitative research to engage Canadians directly.
