Canada’s securities regulators getting tougher with FX brokers seeking Canadian clients.

One of the Canadian financial regulators, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) brings the attention of local investors to the companies operating behind YoutradeFX (www.youtradefx.com) and YTFX Affiliate (www.ytfxaffiliates.com). Youtrade Investments MA Ltd and You Trade Holdings Limited have apparently been seeking Canadian clients, but they are not regulated under local authorities. The companies are based in the UK and Mauritius respectively.

As regards to the specificity of Canadian regulation we remind you, that Canada actually does not have a national securities regulator as do most other countries (e.g. the SEC in the U.S., or the FCA in the U.K.) — each of Canada’s 10 provinces has its own regulator. Canada’s main securities overseer, IIROC (Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada), is actually a self-regulatory organization for all firms offering securities trading in Canada, and requires all its members to also join the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF).

Different forex brokers looking to (legally) do business with Canadian retail clients have taken different approaches. Industry leader FXCM’s www.fxcm.ca website operates in Canada via a white label agreement with locally-licensed Canadian commodities dealer Friedberg Mercantile Group. Gain Capital Canada (Forex.com) and Toronto-based Oanda have taken the direct route, and are have joined IIROC.

Every forex broker registered to do business in Canada has to be a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). The function of the body is to insure deposits of its customers for up to $1 000 000 in case of any broker going insolvent. The full list of brokerages can be accessed on CIPF’s website.

For the full OSC warning release on YoutradeFX click here.

For more on the global Forex industry see the LeapRate-Dow Jones Forex Industry Report.