CICA - Accounting and Financial Reporting Research

Over the last 30 years, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) has published many research studies on accounting and financial reporting. Most are available as PDF downloads free-of-charge. To view and/or download selected publications, visit the CICA website.

About the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) was established by the Securities Act (Ontario) and the Commodity Futures Act (Ontario). It is a self-funded Crown corporation, accountable to the Ontario Legislature through the Minister of Finance. The OSC's mandate is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper and fraudulent practices, and to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in capital markets. (Access the digital archives on Notices and News Releases as well as Speeches and Events dating back to 2005.)

About the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA)

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) is a voluntary umbrella organization of Canada’s provincial and territorial securities regulators whose objective is to improve, coordinate and harmonize regulation of the Canadian capital markets. It aims to achieve consensus on policy decisions which affect our capital market and its participants. It also aims to work collaboratively in the delivery of regulatory programs across Canada, such as the review of continuous disclosure and prospectus filings. (Read the Introduction to CSA and access the What’s New digital archives dating back to 2001.)

About the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The mission of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. Before the Great Crash of 1929, there was little support for federal regulation of the securities markets. This was particularly true during the post-World War I surge of securities activity. Proposals that the federal government require financial disclosure and prevent the fraudulent sale of stock were never seriously pursued. During the peak year of the Depression, Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933. This law, together with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which created the SEC, was designed to restore investor confidence in capital markets by providing investors and the markets with more reliable information and clear rules of honest dealing. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Joseph P. Kennedy (President John F. Kennedy's father) to serve as the first Chairman of the SEC. (Read the SEC’s What We Do and access digital archives from 1929 to 2010 containing Commission Speeches and Public Statements on a wide range of topics concerning the state of the markets and the regulatory agenda.)

Opening the Door to Financial Regulatory History

At a time when financial regulatory reform is capturing headlines, an online museum administered by the SEC Historical Society is granting users equal access to resources, relics and research material. The online galleries preserve eyewitness accounts, oral histories, correspondences, research papers and photographs. An interactive timeline features hundreds of digital artifacts. Interviews and round-table discussions cast light on current topics. (Read the article "Opening the Door to Financial Regulatory History" in the June 2010 Journal of Accountancy online.)