Canadian Investors Prefer Regulation
The financial service industry has been plagued with increasing levels of regulating, acting as a double-edged sword for global markets. Most investors in Europe oppose this unfavourable legislation. However, it was revealed by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, that Canadian Investors in favour the trend of increased regulation. This announcement follows after an extensive survey compiled by IIROC.
Operational behaviours have required strategic alterations per these new regulations. Especially in Australia and the European Union, which has seen thousands of traders move to offshore jurisdictions. That shifting behaviour is considerably different from Canadians, as the North American market has been regulated for decades. It’s provided with a safety net for traders that doesn’t affect their bottom lines. Throughout this IIROC survey, it was noted that 87% of Canadian investors and 67% of traders prefer to engage with regulated financial entities.
The Vice President for IIROC, Kathy Engle, spoke on the surveys resulted. She expressed: “It is encouraging that most Canadian investors are confident that the investment industry in Canada is properly regulated, although it is concerning that those who are not yet investing are far less confident. The more we understand Canadians’ perceptions of regulation in the investment industry, the better we can address concerns, helping investors gain better access to the advice they need to achieve their financial goals.”
Survey Assistance from Strategic Council
The Strategic Council aided IRROC for this survey. They compiled two thousand investors to determine their findings, which noted that 75% of Canadians that invest in blockchain technology are confident that their respective markets are firmly regulated. Subsequently, Canadian markets don’t fluctuate regularly with the confidence of aspiring investors. The Strategic Council asked these two thousand constituents if online advice is better advised by AI or human representatives. 44% determined that they’d prefer a human representative, with 31% preferring artificial intelligence guidance. The remaining 25% were unbiased towards which option is best.
There is a small percentage of constituents surveyed that didn’t support online investment tools, international trading or informative advice. These individuals were above the age of sixty-five, with only 8% of those surveyed being against online trading. IIROC maintained the majority of this survey, questioning more than twenty-nine thousand investors from 170 firms in Canada.
Andrew Kriegler, the Chief Executive Officer of IIROC, stated: “IIROC wants to make it’s regulation more agile and more proportionate to meet Canadians’ changing financial needs and expectations – all the while ensuring that investors remain protected, no matter how they choose to seek advice and consume financial services.”