The self regulatory organization for mutual fund dealers, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada ("MFDA"), made an interesting decision on May 8, 2012 on a motion by a branch manager to strike out a regulatory proceeding arising from allegations that he failed to adequately monitor and report the wrongful activities of an insurance salesperson [...]

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In  a decision released in February, Ontario Superior Court Justice J. B. Shaughnessy certified a class action against mutual fund dealer Investia Financial Services Incorporated, its franchisee, Money Concepts (Barrie), and two of its former registered salespersons, David Karas and James Stephenson, relating to allegedly improper leveraging strategies that were used in the purchase of [...]

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Earlier today, Canada's Supreme Court released a trilogy of long-awaited decisions in which it set universal rules on when courts across Canada can properly take jurisdiction over claims against foreign defendants. The first two cases, Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda et al. and Club Resorts Ltd. v. Charron et al., related to claims brought [...]

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In recent years, much attention has been paid to amendments to provincial Securities Acts across Canada that make it easier for shareholders to sue for misrepresentations by public companies in financial statements and other public documents…

During this period significantly less attention has been paid to whether shareholder class actions might be brought under another and potentially much broader statutory remedy: the oppression remedy under one of the provincial or federal business corporations statutes. However, this may be changing.

Originally published in The Lawyers Weekly.

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On January 14, 2010, the Investment Industry Regulatory Association of Canada (“IIROC”), the self regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates all investment dealers in Canada, enacted what is almost certain to be a major expansion of its 15-year-old mandatory arbitration program. In particular, IIROC has increased from $100,000 to $500,000 the upper limit on client claims that are required to be resolved through binding arbitration if the client requests it.

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