SECURITIES VIOLATIONS SWELL

Securities misconduct in Canada has risen sharply as perpetrators attempted to capitalize on pandemic-driven uncertainties, while social media frenzy surrounding certain stocks and cryptocurrencies also opened the door to more wrongdoing, regulators said. Regulators started enforcement action against 13 individuals or companies for insider trading in the fiscal year ended March 31, versus just one in 2020; 49 parties for illegal distribution of securities, compared with 20; and against 27 respondents for misconduct, including violations of securities laws, from four the prior year, the Canadian Securities Administrators said in a report. “The COVID-19 climate created opportunities for wrongdoers, and so there was a lot of work from the CSA in the spring and summer of last year to take action,” said CSA chairman Louis Morisset.