FAIR Canada Board member Neil de Gelder and Associate Director Steve Garmaise met with five senior officials of the BC Securities Commission led by newly appointed Chair and CEO Brenda Leong following the BCSC’s half-day Capital Ideas 2009 Conference on October 20, 2009.  FAIR Canada and the BCSC agreed to work together to exchange information about financial products and to increase investor input into BCSC policies.   

BCSC Conference was very well done, interesting.  About 120 people attended the BCSC’s annual half-day Capital Ideas 2009 Conference in Vancouver on October 20, 2009.  Panelists included Doug Hyndman, Chair and CEO of Canada’s national securities transition office; the head of IOSCO, the organization of international securities regulators; the former head of the Bank of International Settlements; and an American accounting expert.  Topics ranged from systemic risk to accounting issues to protecting retail investors.  The conference was webcast and should be available on the BCSC website soon.

Hyndman looking at international models. Doug Hyndman “intends to create the best national regulator in the world” by learning from best international practices. 

BCSC committed to retail investor input.  In the meeting with FAIR Canada, BCSC Chair and CEO Brenda Leong and her team described their current initiatives to capture the views of retail investors and stated their determination to do more.  The BCSC’s active education program, InvestRight, is continually being updated to provide relevant information on fraud prevention and retail investor education. FAIR Canada provided updates about our background and priorities.  The two parties agreed to work together to exchange information about financial products and to increase retail investor input at the BCSC.