Will an IPA be the answer?

Many Canadians are losing significant portions of their life savings due to widespread wrongdoing in the investment industry.

The fund market timing scandal was revealed in Canada in December 2004 when Canada'a regulators (Ontario Securities Commission, Investment Dealers Association and Mutual Fund Dealers Association) reached settlement agreements with eight major firms who jointly agreed to pay about $200 million dollars for their part in the market timing.

The investigation stopped short of exposing all the firms involved in market timing, but the results illustrate how widespread industry practices of wrongdoing are.

In 2004 SIPA associated with CARP to produce a report "Giving Small Investors a Fair Chance". This report reviewed mutual funds and made recommendations. The report recommends establishing a national Investor Protection Agency with a mandate to provide meaningful protection for investors that would include the power to investigate and to order restitution when wrongdoing is found.

The complete report is available on the SIPA website at www.sipa.to.