InvestRight

All companies have reporting and disclosure obligations that they must publish for shareholders. If you don’t receive these directly from the company, you can request them from your advisor. Many advisor firms also have research departments that publish reports that you can request. The cardinal rule? Read about the investments you have or are considering buying. It will make you better able to evaluate the recommendations you receive.

The BCSC has a toolkit for conducting due diligence and conducting a background search. The toolkit’s Index of sources provides direct links to more than 70 search sources, and indicates which are free services.

If you look into nothing else, take the time to complete these two steps:

1. Find and review at least one disclosure document on SEDAR.
2. Check to see if the company, or any of its senior executives, have been disciplined for bad practices.

Using SEDI, see Insider Reporting.  

Investor Alerts 

Investor Alerts are issued by CSA members on a regular basis.

From time to time, the BCSC will issue an Investor Alert to warn the public of a possible investment scam that may be affecting you or people you know. In addition to posting the Investor Alert on InvestRight, BCSC staff discuss these public warnings in the media to raise awareness about the possible fraudulent investment scheme. We also blog about Investor Alerts and discuss them in our province-wide seminar program.

The Investor Alert List (IAL) is a list of CSA member investor alerts and is intended to assist the public and the securities industry in conducting due diligence. The subjects of these alerts are persons and/or companies who appear to be engaging in securities activities that may pose a risk to investors.

Four ways to check disciplinary history

1. The CSA Disciplined Persons List identifies individuals from many parts of Canada, including British Columbia, who have been subject to sanctions by any securities regulator, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) or the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA). The list contains anyone who has been subject to sanctions, no matter how serious. It does not include those who are currently under investigation or involved in a hearing or settlement process.
2. The BCSC publishes an Investment caution list to warn investors about unregistered companies that have contacted BC residents to open brokerage accounts, or buy investments that may not comply with securities laws. This list does not identify all unregistered activity or unqualified securities promoted in the province, so we encourage you to report suspicious investment activity to the BCSC any time you notice or suspect it. 
3. The CSA Company CTO (cease trade order) Database contains cease trade orders against issuers (companies), individuals, and management groups. Cease trade orders usually indicate that the company has not met its filing obligations, but they may also be issued in connection with an enforcement action involving a proven or alleged breach of the Securities Act. The database includes all current outstanding cease trade orders issued by the regulatory authorities of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Québec. 
4. Contact BCSC Inquiries for help with company research.