Celebrating its sixth anniversary, the Osgoode Investor Protection Clinic (IPC) opened the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday, Sept. 29 amid a shower of red ticker tape and enthusiastic applause.
“It is such an honour to be here to open the market!” said clinic founder and Professor Poonam Puri, who launched the pioneering program in 2017.
“We know that investor protection is the foundation upon which markets can attract capital and grow,” she added. “Without the confidence that there are rules and processes in place that will protect their investments, retail investors will not have the trust needed to put their hard-earned savings into the capital markets.”
The Osgoode IPC and the TMX Group, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, are aligned in advancing investor protection in Canadian capital markets, she noted.
Puri prefaced her remarks with a land acknowledgement and recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.
She was joined for the festive market opening ceremony by Dean Trevor Farrow, IPC associate director Brigitte Catellier, IPC administrative coordinator Ruby Soriano, the current class of IPC students, the clinic’s supervising lawyers, IPC alumni, IPC community partners and Cheryl Graden, chief legal and enterprise corporate affairs officer and corporate secretary for TMX Group. Market open ceremonies take place at the TMX Group’s Market Centre in the heart of downtown Toronto’s Financial District and are broadcast live on the BNN Bloomberg business channel.
“The IPC is one of the finest examples of Osgoode’s world-class experiential education program,” said Farrow in his remarks. “From the launch of Parkdale in the 1970s to today, Osgoode’s experiential education program is providing students with important skills while allowing them to study the law in context and give back to the community.”
The Osgoode Investor Protection Clinic, the first of its kind in Canada, provides pro bono legal services to individuals who have suffered financial harm through investing. The clinic also engages in investor education initiatives and collects anonymized data to inform public policy decisions and contribute to regulatory reform. It is funded by the Law Foundation of Ontario and has a community partnership with Toronto-based FAIR Canada, which champions the rights of individual investors in Canada through advocacy, education and regulatory advancements.