Alert:
A nationwide postal strike or lockout began on November 15, 2024. Dealer Members must take steps to ensure that document delivery requirements prescribed under CIRO Rules continue to be met.
Compliance Reviews and Reports
Risk Models
Work is in progress to determine the approach to integrating the Risk Models in place at both legacy organizations. It is important that we assess the risk of our members consistently as it is:
- the basis for allocating compliance resources
- used to determine the Dealer Member’s examination cycle and inform the scope of the compliance examinations.
We will provide further information once the project is completed, and a new model has been developed.
Compliance Examinations
Using a risk-based approach, the Compliance teams schedule and conduct examinations of Dealer Member firms to assess compliance with CIRO Rules and applicable securities legislation. We focus on those firms and/or activities that present heightened regulatory risk. After each review is complete, we issue a report to the firm regarding their compliance, highlighting the areas that they need to address, improve or change.
The Compliance teams also work closely with Market and Member Regulation Policy teams on rulemaking and guidance, and with the Enforcement team which investigates potential cases of wrongdoing.
Annual Compliance Priorities Report
Each year, CIRO issues a Compliance Priorities Report. This report highlights CIRO’s areas of focus including common exam deficiencies and emerging issues to help Dealer Members and registered individuals establish and maintain a strong culture of compliance.
Annual Risk Questionnaire (ARQ)
The ARQ was introduced to the investment dealers in 2021 to create efficiencies and eliminate duplication of information requested by the Compliance teams. The information requested is necessary to assess the compliance risk of the firm and is also used as part of our regular examination planning process.
The ARQ seeks to capture material changes that have occurred at our dealers in the past year including changes to business lines, relationship/arrangements, governance, operational and supervisory controls relating to the financial and operations, business and trading conduct (where applicable) activities at the firm. The ARQ can also be used as a tool for CIRO to assess how our dealers have addressed new or recent amendments to CIRO and/or CSA rules and reforms.