Last week, the Canadian Securities Administrators (the
"CSA") published guidance
on situations when securities legislation may apply to entities
that facilitate crypto-currency trading.
The CSA is an umbrella organization of securities regulators
from each of the provinces and territories. The CSA's mandate is to protect
Canadian investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices,
and to foster fair and efficient capital markets. They regularly
issue guidance – written disclosures of best practices for
market participants, which are non-binding but intended to
summarize trends among the regulators.
The issued guidance is CSA Staff Notice
21-327, Guidance on the Application of Securities
Legislation to Entities Facilitating the Trading of Crypto
Assets (the "Guidance"). The
Guidance highlights certain factors that entities facilitating
trades in crypto-assets
("Crypto-Platforms") should consider
when deciding if they are subject to securities
