The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), an organisation of provincial and territorial securities regulators in Canada, published in February a notice on new requirements for the crypto-currency market: the providers of crypto asset-trading platforms and services will have to comply with stricter investor protection rules.

According to the notice, entities interested in starting crypto-currency activities in Canada will have to file a pre-registration undertaking 30 days prior to registration. Over that period, they will have to comply with, among others, crypto-currency custody rules, prohibition on the sale of stablecoin without the CSA’s consent, restriction on offering margin, credit or other forms of leverage to any type of customer in connection with the trade of crypto-currency contracts or crypto-currency assets, compliance with the requirement to provide financial information and other requirements specified in the notice.

The CSA representatives emphasise that the new pre-registration rules and related requirements result from recent events of collapse and insolvency of crypto-currency trading platforms and aim at enhancing protection of Canadian investors.

The CSA also provides on its website a register of crypto-asset trading platforms authorised to engage in business dealings with citizens of Canada, a register of platforms that filed a pre-registration undertaking, and a register of platforms prohibited from trading in crypto-currencies.

The full text of the notice is available at: https://www.osc.ca/sites/default/files/2023-02/csa_20230222_21-332_crypto-trading-platforms-pre-reg-undertakings.pdf.