A frustrated small investor is calling for the resignation of Ontario Securities Commission chief David Brown.

Ottawa-based investor, Jim Roache, issued a press release calling for Brown’s resignation as the latest shot in his one-man war against the securities regulatory establishment.

While the call for Brown’s resignation is unlikely to be taken seriously, it does point to a serious issue — the failure of the regulatory system to protect small investors, and the very real trauma that some suffer when they are abused by a financial advisor.

Roache has been waging a negative publicity campaign against BMO Nesbitt Burns and the securities establishment, after he lost money with the firm. His latest outburst comes after he said he received a letter from the OSC denying his request that it review the IDA’s disciplinary decision against his former broker and BMO Nesbitt Burns.

Roache said the OSC told him he doesn’t “have standing to request such a review”, and that the Securities Act only provides this right to persons “directly affected by” an IDA decision.

Roache said he doesn’t understand why he was not affected by the decision since the disciplinary matter came out of dealings with his account.

Roache said, “It was my money, four years out of my life, my broken marriage, my retirement nest egg, I who was violated by the broker and his manager, but the decision to inadequately discipline the broker and leave his manager to walk free did not directly affect me? This defies common sense and logic. Of course it affected me — if not me — who?”

“If I were the only person being treated in this cavalier way, I would write it off to chance, but there are others,” he said. “We must all fight to bring positive change to a system which is failing to do its job of protecting the investing public.”