The Board of Directors of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada has approved an important new initiative designed to enhance investor protection. The decision was made at the IDA’s 85th Annual Meeting and Conference taking place in La Malbaie, Quebec.

Policy No. 8 Reporting Requirements will require statistical and summary reporting of all securities-related settlements, civil claims, judgements, arbitrations, awards or other resolutions, and customer complaints (except customer-service complaints regarding issues that are not the subject of IDA rules or standards), regardless of monetary amounts. The previous Policy No. 8 had required reporting of civil actions and settlements only for specific monetary thresholds and Members were not required to report complaints.

This more comprehensive reporting system will permit the IDA to better identify areas of possible compliance weakness for review and correction, as well as areas where enforcement is required.

“Policy No. 8 provides the tools needed to ensure compliance with and enforcement of securities rules and standards,” said IDA Chairman, L. Jacques Ménard.