Amid a surge in complaints to the industry self-regulator, the number of enforcement cases concluded by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) declined in fiscal 2025.
The industry SRO reported that the volume of complaints rose by 21% to 4,127 in the latest fiscal year (to March 31), up from 3,408 last year. The number of investigations it completed also increased year-over-year, up from 150 in 2024 to 176 this year.
However, the share of cases that were referred for prosecution declined from 38% last year to 34% this year — and the volume of concluded proceedings also dropped year-over-year.
Enforcement sanctions were imposed in 57 cases in fiscal 2025 (seven against firms and 50 involving individuals), down from 75 cases in fiscal 2024.
“While our efforts to pursue a risk-based approach to enforcement resulted in a lower number of concluded cases this year, the sanctions imposed demonstrate that we continue to pursue and target the most significant cases,” the SRO said in its report.
Indeed, amid the drop in the volume of proceedings, the SRO still imposed over $10 million in total sanctions against firms and individuals combined in fiscal 2025 — although the total was also down year over year.
Monetary sanctions against individuals declined from $8.6 million in 2024 to $7.2 million this year — comprised of $5 million in fines, $1.7 million in disgorgement and almost $500,000 in costs orders.
According to the report, disgorgement orders were up sharply this year, from $428,000 in 2024 to $1.7 million, while total fines dropped from $7.6 million to just under $5 million.
The number of suspensions handed down to reps this year also declined from 24 in 2024 to 19 this year, however, the number of permanent bans ticked up to 15 this year from 14 last year.
Sanctions against firms were also down year-over-year, dropping from $5.8 million last year to $3.1 million this year. Total fines fell from $4.75 million last year to $2.4 million this year, but disgorgement orders held up better — sliding from just under $800,000 in 2024 to $624,000 this year.
As for collecting those sanctions, CIRO also reported that it managed to collect 13% of the sanctions ordered against individuals this year, down from 22% in 2024. The collection rate against firms remained at 100%.
Against that backdrop, CIRO also noted that while the quantity of enforcement activity provides, “some insight into our results,” it stressed that measuring the quality of its activity, “is more difficult.”
“In the 2025 fiscal year, enforcement identified and pursued cases with significant deterrent impact and sent a strong regulatory message to the industry about the consequences for violating regulations,” said Alexandra Williams, senior vice-president, strategy, innovation and stakeholder protection, at CIRO, in a release.
“The team continues to harmonize and create efficiencies that will help us tackle financial crimes, wrongdoing and increased complaints and inquiries,” she added.