IIROC Announces New Members of Crypto-Asset Working Group

Pan-Canadian self-regulator continues to deepen its understanding of crypto-assets

March 29, 2021 (Toronto, Ontario) – The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) announced today the new members of its Crypto-Asset Working Group.

The announcement of the new Crypto-Asset Working Group members builds off of today's joint announcement between IIROC and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) providing further guidance on how securities legislation applies to Crypto-Asset Trading Platforms.

The group, composed of industry practitioners, legal and compliance experts, academics, and other professionals, will assist IIROC with advice on proposed rules, guidance and other policy matters related to the regulation of crypto-assets and the potential impact on IIROC’s investor protection and market integrity objectives. For the past two years, IIROC has been focused on working with the CSA, building internal expertise and resources, and analyzing IIROC rules, to support this new industry.

Chaired by Victoria Pinnington, IIROC's Senior Vice-President, Market Regulation, this group of industry experts from various sectors will make recommendations on the regulation of crypto-assets to ensure it:

• adequately addresses market integrity and investor protection concerns and is in the public interest,
• is practicable and cost-efficient from the perspective of marketplaces trading crypto-assets and persons trading on such marketplaces.

"We must continue to rethink the way we regulate in order to support innovation – all while ensuring investors are protected. With this new group of diverse members, IIROC will continue its work assessing how our regulatory requirements might be best tailored for crypto-assets," said Pinnington.

The Crypto-Asset Working Group members are:

• Frank Barillaro (The Everton Carlisle Group Inc.)
• Brandon Boyd (Questrade Inc.)
• Torstein Braaten (Instinet Canada Ltd)
• Ryan Clements (University of Calgary)
• Shaun Cumby (Arxnovum Investments Inc.)
• Laure Fouin (McCarthy Tetrault LLP)
• Robin Ford (Robin Ford Consulting)
• Sandra Jakab (Finhaven Private Markets)
• Jason Jardine (Leede Jones Gable Inc.)
• Ryan Leopold (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP)
• Julie Mansi (Borden Ladner Gervais LLP)
• Hashim Mitha (MeetAmi Innovations Inc.)
• Linda Montgomery (Blockstation)
• Brian Mosoff (Ether Capital)
• Ash Navabi (Blockchain Technologies Coalition of Canada)
• Louis Roy (Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton)
• Dean Skurka (Bitbuy)
• Dino Verbrugge (DV Trading LLC / Independent Trading Group (ITG) Inc.)

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About IIROC:

IIROC is the pan-Canadian self-regulatory organization that oversees all investment dealers and their trading activity in Canada’s debt and equity markets. IIROC sets high quality regulatory and investment industry standards, protects investors and strengthens market integrity while supporting healthy Canadian capital markets. IIROC carries out its regulatory responsibilities through setting and enforcing rules regarding the proficiency, business and financial conduct of 175 Canadian investment dealer firms of varying sizes and business models, and their more than 30,000 registered employees. IIROC also sets and enforces market integrity rules regarding trading activity on Canadian debt and equity marketplaces.

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