We could soon have a single national regulator covering the securities market.
Half of Canadians have money in the stock market either directly or through mutual funds. And of course the Canada Pension Plan and private company pensions invest in the market too so you can see how many people have a stake in this.
"Somebody has to be accountable for Canada's capital markets," said Tom Hockin the chair of the panel on Securities Regulation.
He is proposing the federal government take over the responsibility. Right now -- there are 13 securities regulators in Canada -like the BC Securities Commission. All have different rules so if something goes wrong what happens depends on where you live.
"We heard some very powerful stories about people who had lost their life savings either because of inappropriate advice or outright fraud. That's troubling enough but what's worse is that a person's chances of receiving redress varied dramatically depending on where this person lives," Hockin said.
In some provinces justice is swift. In most it's a long process. So having one national body dealing with securities would mean the rules would be equal across the country. Hopefully they would pick the rules that are best for the public. The BC government today said it agreed with the objective but is waiting for details.
No system will end fraud completely -- but having one system means it's harder for criminals to relocate to where the rules are different. And when times are tough scams flourish so people really have to be more on their guard these days. The federal government is promising further steps will be included in the budget in two weeks.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
