Multiple Canadian regulators issued investor alerts against online trading platform Halifax & Associates for selling illegal securities

What Happened?

April 7, 2020: Manitoba, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and other Canadian securities commissions have issued a warning that Denmark-based Halifax & Associates–claiming to be a cryptocurrency trading platform–has been defrauding Canadian investors. The Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC) claimed that a resident was scammed out of CAD$8,000, while the Nova Scotia Securities Commission (NSSC) notes that multiple investors in that province were defrauded.

Source: https://nssc.novascotia.ca/sites/default/files/docs/2020-04-06-NSSC%20Halifax%20and%20Associate%20Investor%20Alert.pdf

Who Is Impacted?

Financial services providers targeting Canadian residents.

Why This Matters?

The Investor Alert helps Canadians assess the credibility of the firms they deal with, or intend to deal with. Investors who do not heed these warnings may be at risk of a total loss of capital–with no recourse for recovery–when dealing with fraudulent and unlicensed service providers operating outside of Canada’s regulatory oversight.

What’s Next?

By issuing the Investor Alert on Halifax & Associates, the NSSC has sent a clear message that these unlawful practices of promoting an unlicensed business can result in public enforcement. This alert could damage a company’s reputation in the public and create barriers to their future growth and development.

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