Canada: Announced CSA expansion of measures to regulate crypto trading platforms

On 12 December 2022, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced that it was strengthening its approach on supervision of crypto trading platforms by expanding existing requirements. In particular, all crypto trading firms operating in Canada will now be required to hold Canadian clients’ assets with an appropriate custodian and segregate these assets from the platform’s proprietary business. Furthermore, the CSA prohibits crypto trading platforms from offering margin or leverage for any Canadian client. Finally, the CSA recommends Canadian investors to exercise caution when investing in crypto assets or financial products relating to crypto assets since they should be considered as high-risk investments.