Additional Crypto Exchange Regulation Guidance Provided By Canada

It seems that the regulators of Canada have seen it fit to take yet another step towards proper cryptocurrency exchange regulation, today. Two regulatory groups from the nation have both issued out new guidance.  This guidance concludes that crypto-asset trading platforms, or CTPs, are mandated to submit to securities law requirements, as well.

A New Step For Canada’s Crypto Regulation

The document, published by both the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), as well as the Canadian Securities Administration (CSA), portrayed various example situations. These situations were shown to display where CTPs would or would not be subject to securities legislation, including examples of how they can be tailored for the CTP business model as a whole.

Of course, the document made it clear that the relevant determination also falls on various specific factors. One of the biggest of these factors includes the offered products in question.

Canada’s Legislative System

Within this new regulatory framework proposal, certain crypto trading platforms will be mandated to be licensed, especially if they maintain control over the funds of their customers. That means any non-custodial exchange within Canada might have a better time being exempt from registration, but they won’t be capable of doing any leveraged or margin trading without it.

It should be noted that Canada makes use of provincial jurisdictions for the most part when it comes to the regulation of securities. However, this isn’t the case with the derivatives space, as it’s divided between the provincial governments and the federal governments of the nation.

The New Rules

The document went into detail, explaining that Security Tokens are not something a Dealer Platform can be capable of offering leverage or margin on until fully registered as a member of IIROC and as an investment dealer. The same is applied for Dealer Platforms doing business with Crypto Contracts, as they are expected to seek registration of the appropriate dealer category for said contracts.

The same goes for Dealer Platforms doing trades or otherwise soliciting them from individual retail investors. All of these requirements will “generally” cause registration as IIROC members and investment dealers to be mandatory.

Another important factor is whether or not an exchange qualifies as a marketplace or not. Should they be classified as one, these exchanges in question must apply to the securities regulatory authority of the relevant jurisdiction. This must be done in order to gain an exemption from the obligations around trade settling through regulated clearing agencies and the various reporting requirements.