Office address: 121 King Street West, Suite 2000, Toronto, ON M5H3T9
Website: www.ciro.ca
Year established: 2023
Company type: regulatory body
Employees: 600
Expertise: regulating investments and mutual funds
Parent company: N.A.
CEO and key people: Andrew J. Kriegler, President and CEO
Financing status: N.A.
The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) is the national self-regulatory organization that presides over investment dealers, mutual fund dealers, and trading activity on Canada's debt and equity marketplaces. Investment and mutual fund dealers are required to be members of the CIRO.
CIRO imposes rules to uphold the integrity of the investment industry in Canada. It oversees 262 Canadian investment and mutual funds firms across the country.
In January 2023, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced the amalgamation of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA).
This new organization – called “New SRO” in the interim – was officially named Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization in June 2023.
CIRO provides a variety of products and services to its members, including:
If there is one word to describe the culture at CIRO, it would be: integrity.
Integrity is at the heart of everything CIRO does. For example, CIRO’s compliance teams work with member firms to check that they adhere to rules on conduct and training, among others.
Enforcement teams investigate possible breaches, imposing fines and suspensions where necessary.
Surveillance teams monitor trading in real time, taking quick action when integrity might be compromised.
The organization also recently worked with the Canadian Securities Administrators in auditing 172 firms for conflicts of interest. This focus on integrity goes back to CIRO’s primary goal: to protect investors and instill confidence in Canada’s investment industry.
Andrew J. Kriegler is the first ever President and CEO of CIRO. He was appointed President and CEO of CIRO’s predecessor, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), in 2014.
Before that, he was with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) where he served as Deputy Superintendent.
Kriegler has had a total of 25 years in the private sector, having held executive positions in companies such as CIBC, BMO, Moody’s, and Canada Trust. He holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University and a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto.
The CIRO continues to work with the Canadian Securities Administrators in carrying out audits within the industry, the latest of which was a review based on CSA’s Client Focused Reforms. Further reviews are taking place in 2023.
CIRO is also looking at introducing a new set of standards in measuring proficiency, set to launch in 2026.
All these initiatives are CIRO’s mandate in action: to safeguard Canadian investors and uphold the integrity of the investment industry.
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