The Canadian Securities Industry

Chapter 1 introduces the institutional setting for the rest of Exam 1. It explains who participates in the Canadian securities industry, how dealers and other intermediaries fit together, and which market trends affect how products are distributed and serviced.

Students should treat this chapter as a role-definition chapter. Many later questions assume that the difference between a dealer, an exchange, a clearing function, a bank, an insurer, and another intermediary is already clear.

Exam Focus

• Distinguish investment dealers from other financial intermediaries by function, market access, and client role.
• Recognize when a dealer is acting as principal and when it is acting as agent.
• Connect industry trends such as technology, consolidation, and changing investor behaviour to product access, costs, and service models.

In this section

• Overview of the Canadian Securities Industry
  How issuers, investors, dealers, trading venues, clearing systems, and regulators fit together in Canada's securities industry.
• Investment Dealers as Financial Intermediaries
  How investment dealers connect issuers and investors, how dealer business models differ, with principal and agency trades work.
• Other Financial Intermediaries
  Distinguish banks, credit unions, trust companies, insurers, pension funds, and fund-related intermediaries from investment dealers.
• Financial Market Trends
  The technology, product, demographic, and household-balance-sheet trends shaping Canada's financial services industry.