Are you searching for comprehensive information about IIROC, IIROC regulated brokers, and how Canada’s financial regulation can protect you as a Forex trader?
If yes, this piece is for you. The article contains information about what you need to know about IIROC and its regulations.
Lastly, I’ll also give my list of preferred international brokers that you can trade with as Canadian traders.
Overview of IIROC
The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) is the leading authority that oversees investing and regulating Canada’s procedures.
IIROC is an independent body established on June 1, 2008, by the merging of the Market Regulation Services Inc. (RS), and the Investment Dealers Association of Canada (IDA). It has its injunction spelled out by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA).
IIROC put up legal statutes that guide brokers’ operations and enforce such laws in the Canadian Securities and trading industry.
The enforcement of these laws will aid the broker traders’ integrity in the Canadian forex market, hence protecting you and every investor from any discrepancies.
How Does IIROC Protect Canadian Traders?
Before a broker can register with IIROC, it must meet the conditions of IIROC membership. The body ensures it assesses the broker to ensure it is free of any fraudulent activities
Moreover, they have surveillance systems in place to supervise the transactions carried out by the regulated firms, and the IIROC will be alerted in any case of law breaches.
Investigations will be carried out on these violations by IIROC, who in turn, forwards the outcome of the findings to the panel. The panel uses the information provided to determine the punishment such as fines the erring firm will have to serve.
Canadian firms are subject to a rulebook set up by the IIROC to protect you from any illegalities with strict compliance with the content laid out in the book. Any violation can receive punishment as heavy as temporal revocation of membership or as the situation warrants.
DUTIES OF IIROC
- IIROC is vested with the duty of protecting the privileges you should enjoy as an investor
- It is responsible for drawing out essential rules for brokers’ operations
- IIROC provides a fair, competitive atmosphere for all stakeholders
- Investigates misconducts by market participants and firms
- Conducts market surveillance and trading review analysis to ensure transactions are carried out under the UMIR and applicable provincial securities law.
- Conducts trading adherence review to make sure firms can handle your account as a client
- It sets the minimum capital standard to ensure firms have the financial capacity to operate well in their choice of type and size of business to protect against liquidation.
- Scrutinizes the regulated broker firms to ensure they are of good characters and have the required educational courses plus background programs
- Dishes out disciplinary proceedings that may result in penalties including fines, suspensions, and permanent bans or terminations for individuals and firms.
IIROC is responsible for ensuring you are well protected from any form of misconduct by brokerage firms from which specific measures have laid out to ensure illegalities are well dealt with. The stages are:
Case Evaluation
This stage involves weighing the complaints to determine if the matter has enough evidence to warrant an investigation. A letter of warning can be issued, or the case may be referred to another IIROC department or other institution of higher authority.
Investigations and Prosecutions
The body makes its findings based on the lead received from other IIROC departments, requests from securities commissions, other regulatory bodies, or police authorities, and whistleblowers.
The Enforcement department collects and reviews facts and figures from the case with interviews conducted with the firm and parties involved.
Suppose the evidence establishes a deviation from the IIROC rulebook. In that case, Enforcement staff may start a sanction process presided over by an IIROC hearing panel, which includes an independent chair from the legal community and two industry members.
Punishments for violation of IIROC rules can be:
- A reprehension
- Fines, up to of $5 million per violation
- An embargo, permanent, or for a specific period
- Any other punishment determined to be appropriate under the situation.
You can read more about penalties for any violation here.
Protect Yourself With Regulated International Brokers
IIROC has measures in place to regulate and protect investors like you from fraudulent brokers. Before the body registers a forex broker, the broker must meet the body’s terms and conditions.
The body also carries out routine checks to ensure that brokers are following its regulations. You can submit a complaint to IIROC in case of any misconduct or unfair acts by a regulated broker.
However, IIROC has frequently come under criticism by investor advocates for ineffectiveness. To adequately protect yourself from trading fraud, it’s better you trade with international brokers. Most trusted international brokers are regulated by other strict financial bodies such as FCA from the U.K. So you can rest assured that you will not run into any fly-by-night Forex brokerage firms.
Not sure of the international brokers to use? I’ll provide a list of trusted international brokers in the next section.
Trusted International Forex Brokers
See below for our 5 best Forex brokers in Canada:
VANTAGE FX
Vantage Fx is a leading international broker that gives you access to Forex markets, Cryptocurrencies, Indices, Commodities, and Shares CFDs.
Founded in 2009, VANTAGE FX aims at helping you as an investor to reach your financial goal through great trading platforms and fantastic customer services.
What VANTAGE FX offers you
- Leverage up to 500:1
- Demo account
- Undivided FX promotions
- Raw ECN spreads from 0.0
Read: VantageFX Review
FP Markets
FPM is an Australian regulated and based broker firm established in 2005. They are concerned with giving trading opportunities to willing investors on Forex, Share CFDs, Indices, Commodities & Cryptocurrencies businesses.
FPM offers you the following.
- Tight Raw Spreads from 0.0 Pips
- Leverage up to 500:1
- $100 starting deposit
- Demo account
Read: FP Markets Review
FOREX
Forex.com is a worldwide forex broker firm established in 2001. It is the brand name for GAIN Capital, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
It is registered under several financial institutions which included the top-tier Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK or the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
Forex.com has the following bonuses to offer you.
- A minimum deposit as low as 50$
- No fee required for withdrawal and deposit
- Flexible pricing option
- Interest paid up to 1.5% on your average daily available margin balance
- No bank fees for transfers
Read: Forex.com Review
HOT FOREX
Hot forex is an international forex broker firm established in 2008. Their excellent customer-oriented services have earned them notable awards from several regions across the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and so on.
What they offer;
- Free educational contents for you and webinars from experts
- Tight Spreads from as low as 0.1* (EURUSD)
- Flexible leverage up to 1:1000
- Free VPS hosting
Read: Hot Forex Review
XM
XM is a forex broker firm established in 2009 with headquarters in Cyprus. The group of online brokers is regulated by CySEC with license number 120/10.
XM Group Forex broker can boast of over 60 currency pairs available for transactions, with a minimum of 5$ as a deposit, making it suitable for you as a beginner with low funds to trade with. XM Group offers 4 types of accounts: micro, standard, zero, and ultra-low.”
Why Choose XM Group Forex Broker?
- An Exciting bonus system
- Strong reputation in the forex world
- Great customer support services
- Leverage as low as 1:30
- Earning with referrals.
Read: XM Review
Conclusion
Starting out as a new Forex investor can be quite a hassle without knowing the right broker to trade with. I would recommend you to trade with regulated brokers for the safety of your trading activities since fraudulent brokers are quite a commonplace for anything that involves large money transactions like Forex trading.
To avoid unfair and fraudulent forex brokers, I’d advise you to trade with international regulated brokers. Among the above 5, Vantage Fx provides some of the greatest perks and benefits for forex traders who are just starting out.
