Lawrence E. Ritchie Lawrence E. Ritchie

Supreme Court of Canada decision impacts Securities Commissions’ ability to collect from bankrupt transgressors

On July 31, 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on whether financial sanctions imposed by securities regulators are dischargeable through...

Long-awaited U.S. Supreme Court ruling curtails SEC’s use of administrative courts

The U.S. States Supreme Court ruled on a decade-long dispute between the SEC and a hedge fund manager.

SEC wins novel ‘shadow trading’ trial against biopharma executive

A novel theory of insider trading known as “shadow trading” involves the use of material non-public information about a reporting issuer...

CIRO publishes proposals to level the advisor compensation playing field

Earlier this year, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization published a consultation paper outlining policy options that would help to level...

Duty of procedural fairness that would be owed to witnesses in issuing summonses under the Securities Act is minimal

A recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision confirmed that, amongst the very limited avenues that witnesses have to challenge a regulatory...

More complaints and more investigations: highlights from CIRO’s inaugural Enforcement Report

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization released a report on its enforcement activities for its first year of operations. Lawrence Ritchie,...

A tempest of change: impact of climate-related litigation and regulation

It was a year of significant change for climate-related litigation and regulation in 2023. The volume of climate litigation increased significantly...

White-collar enforcement will continue to take shape in 2024

Canada continued to face international criticism for its perceived lack of white-collar crime enforcement in 2023.

Capital markets enforcement: innovative, and controversial, new directions

There were a number of intersecting trends in the capital markets regulatory and enforcement landscape in 2023. These trends can serve as a window...

CSA and CIRO review comments but come to no conclusion (yet) on short selling regulatory regime

The Canadian Securities Administrators and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization have released stakeholder comments and responses solicited...