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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, October 17, 2013 | 18 T National securities regulator protects against `white-collar' crime most often not insured. This presents a real life-changing catastrophe for the victims subjected to this type of theft. The most notable white-collar criminal in the U.S. who stole millions from trusting investors was Bernie Madoff. There are many other less famous thieves in Canada who have done the same. Investors deserve protection from white collar crime and now they have something to celebrate. The federal government has nally moved closer to their elusive dream of having a national securities regulator. This will allow for greater ef ciency and expertise in the policing of nancial wrong he impact of an articulate, sophisticated thief talking you out of your life's savings can be devastating. This type of white-collar crime should not happen but unfortunately it is a reality. There are safeguards in place but, as with all rules and laws, sometimes they are broken. Bad things do happen. If someone steals your car or breaks into your house and steals all of your electronics, at least the loss is contained. It is limited to the value of those assets, which in most cases are insured. White-collar crimes, however, target far more signi cant amounts where losses are Dollars & Sense Peter Watson Guest Contributor Now is a GREAT time to support Kerr Street Ministries! We are pleased to announce that a local resident, hoping to inspire others to support the work of KSM, has offered to MATCH all donations of $60 or more during the month of October (up to $25,000). Every day there are people arriving at our door saying, "We Need Help" and through the generous donations of people like you, we are able to respond. By offering food supplies, community meals and children's programs we are able to provide help for today and hope for the future. doings. One consolidated effort is better than each province attempting to manage it themselves. Stephen Erlichman, the executive director of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance endorsed the improvement in governance with a national regulator by saying "the reality is that it's going to be better than what we have now." Criminals have become smarter and so must the regulators policing these and other types of nancial crimes. Many would argue this has been a long time coming. Jim Flaherty, the federal nance minister has been promoting this since 2006. The idea itself has been around since 1935. There has been over 10 attempts to have one federal regulator responsible for all of Canada. Currently, we have what appears to be governance by committee with 13 separate pro- vincial securities commissions. Canada is the only major industrialized country that does not have a single national regulator. The effort to truly have one national regulator is there in principle, however, there is still much work to be done. Only Ontario and British Columbia have signed on. These provinces account for about two thirds of the capital markets in Canada so it is a fairly signi cant start. Several other provinces will likely join and in my opinion, the longer some remaining provinces abstain, the more pressure for them to join. The signi cance of the announcement of a national regulator is surprisingly good news. In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled against Flaherty's efforts and it took a technical change in strategy that lead to the September announcement. Now, there will be a more ef cient regulator ready to track down and prosecute criminals who are attempting to cheat us out of our life's savings. More signi cantly, this is one more lesson telling us white-collar crimes do occur and it is everyone's individual responsibility to be prudent and careful about managing and protect their funds. -- Submitted by Peter Watson, MBA, CFP , R.F .P ., CIM, FCSI., Certi ed Financial Planner YOUR SUPPORT IS URGENTLY NEEDED TODAY! Call 905-845-7485 or go to www.kerrstreet.com to make a recurring donation Yes, I would like to help families in need. Here's how I can help ... A monthly gift of $ ____________ or a single gift of $ _____________ METHODS of PAYMENT Cheque: payable to Kerr Street Ministries, or VOID if monthly. Visa / Mastercard: # ___________________________Expiry Date: ________ Secure Online Donations at www.kerrstreet.com Follow the donate tab. NAME ________________________________________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS ______________________________________________________________________ CITY, PROVINCE _____________________________________ POSTAL CODE _________________ EMAIL _________________________________________________________________________________ PHONE ____________________________________ CELL _______________________________________ If paying by cheque, please detach and forward with your payment to: Kerr Street Ministries, 485 Kerr Street, Oakville ON L6K 3C6. A receipt for income tax purposes will be sent to you. For more information on how you can help this growing ministry need contact us today at 905-845-7485. Charitable Reg. No. 89710 6845 RR0001