Many say that fraud is the intentional deception of the consumer.

I submit this true scenario involving millions of investors and am willing to let readers judge for themselves.

The deception begins when hiring nearly any investment salesperson, and the jobs are advertised as 100% commission-paid job positions. (see RBC job posting linked below)  

https://www.linkedin.com/comm/jobs2/view/139349488?refId=d6274911-256e-4...

Then once they are hired, the employees are "packaged and sold" as something else to a vulnerable and trusting public. Despite provincial laws designed to prevent such license prevarication.

"As one commentator to a SEC staff’s study noted, “If the product sold is that of advice, then that advice should be in the best interest of the client. Anything else is fraud, because the seller is delivering a service different from what the consumer thinks he or she is buying.”  (link to Financial Post Article by Securities lawyer Ed Waitzer below)

When licensing these same commission salespersons, they are licensed as "dealing representatives" (as opposed to the true professional license category of "adviser" in both Canada and in the U.S.) Dealing representative ("broker" in the U.S.) is the license category for commission salespersons. (video below shows how to confirm license and registration in a minute or two)  BrokerCheck.com is how to check in the U.S.

The icing on the deception cake however, is to then ALTER the spelling of "Adviser" by ONE VOWEL, (from a licensed "adviser" to an "advisOR" (a non-licensed term).  This puts them outside of the reach of most law enforcement actors...and confuses everyone else.

The profits from being able to pull off this deception are calculated to be as high as one billion dollars per week, in Canada.  That equates to financial harm of one Fort MacMurray- sized fire every month or so in Canada. (Ft Mac was $3.5 billion in damages, 2016)

The public is deceived into belief that they are getting a professional "adviser", and then delivered something entirely different than what they were led to expect.   Again, many call this fraud.

Delivery of a commission salesperson with a legal ability to act "counter" to the investor's interests  (for more info search "suitability v fiduciary duty"), instead of the professional "adviser" that is contained in the law (Securities Act) of your Province.

"Trust us, we are advise-ieio-rs....?"

Where is the truth, the honesty, the fairness promised by the industry? (Probably not where they employ the non-advisor-licensed  folks that they deceptively call "advisors":)