News Release

Vancouver - British Columbia Securities Commission Chair Doug Hyndman today announced the results of the national Canadian Securities Administrators Investor Index and the launch of the commission’s new InvestRight program. InvestRight has been created to help protect investors from fraud and to give them the tools they need to ask the right questions before making investment decisions.

“Investor education is becoming increasingly important because it is clear that no regulator will ever have the capacity to stop all fraud,” says BCSC Chair Doug Hyndman. “The results of the CSA Investor Index show the serious nature of this problem, and the need for regulators from across Canada to come together to give investors the tools they need to protect themselves.” 

One of the key elements of the InvestRight program is a comprehensive website at www.InvestRight.org. The site will provide a wide range of tools to help investors develop “critical thinking” skills. Some of these tools include the “Scam Meter,” which allows investors to see if the investment they are considering shares any common traits with past scams. The site includes everything from background checks to information on investment products and videos in which victims impacted by fraud tell their personal stories.

As part of the InvestRight program, the commission is also launching a RED-FLAGS communications campaign, designed to alert investors about some of the most common fraudulent sales pitches to watch out for. This will be highlighted in a series of educational seminars offered throughout the province by the BCSC and its campaign partners.

Brenda Leong, BCSC Executive Director, adds, “As part of the Red Flag campaign, we will be stepping up our investor alerts to warn the public when we suspect there might be a problem. Frequently, we learn about instances of fraud too late and the money has disappeared. Our goal is to disrupt, stop and prevent fraud. We will be asking people to call us or fill in a complaint form on our website.”

The InvestRight program is being implemented in conjunction with campaign partners that include The Better Business Bureau (Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Interior), the BC Crime Prevention Association and the BC Hydro Power Pioneers, a BC Hydro retiree Senior’s Safety and Crime Prevention Wise Owl program.

The BCSC is also expanding its approach to affinity fraud - investment frauds that prey upon members of identifiable groups, such as religious or ethnic communities, the elderly or professional groups. In addition to God’s Fraud Squad, a successful program delivered in the Fraser Valley by two pastors, the commission has entered into a new partnership with the Mennonite Brethren Churches to reach 80 per cent of its churches in year one.

The commission is also committed to continuing to teach financial literacy to young people through its award winning Financial Life Skills program for Grade 10 students.

InvestRight is funded by the BCSC’s Education Fund, which receives revenue from administrative penalties and settlements imposed on market participants who violate securities regulations. Under the Securities Act, these monies “may be spent only for the purpose of educating securities market participants and members of the public about investing, financial matters or the operation or regulation of the securities markets.”

October is investor education month.

InvestRight is a one-stop resource for investors to educate themselves on how to make informed investment decisions. Its comprehensive website at www.InvestRight.org provides a wide range of tools to help investors develop critical thinking skills they need to protect themselves - information such as how to do background checks, investment products, a scam meter and video clips from victims of investment fraud. A RED-FLAGS communications campaign has been launched to alert investors to common sales pitches used by scam artists along with a province wide seminar program. If you have questions or problems with an investment or a financial adviser, please call 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 (toll-free in BC & Alberta).

The BC Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities within the province.