What information do we collect to as part of the signup process?

Equivesto collects a variety of personal information when you sign up for our platform.  We use this information to verify your identity and to help determine whether Equity Crowdfunding is right for you.  

The information we collect on your is as follows:

• Name

• Current Address

• Citizenship

  Why do we collect this information? Equivesto is a Canadian platform, currently registered as an Exempt Market Dealer with several Canadian Provincial Securities Regulators, which you can confirm here.  We can only accept investors on the site from the jurisdiction in which we are registered.  We collect your citizenship to help understand you better, alongside your address to confirm you are a resident of an eligible province.

• Date of Birth

• Contact information

• Social Insurance Number (Optional)

  Why do we collect this? The collection of your Social Insurance Number by Equivesto is optional.  Equivesto collects this information to assist in the confirmation of your identity.  On Equivesto, you can buy shares and directly invest in companies.  It is our responsibility to confirm your identity, and the identity of anyone who would be buying securities on our platform.  We keep this information private and use it as part of your identity verification process.  Equivesto works with our service provider, Trulioo, to verify your identity.  Trulioo is bound by the same confidentiality and security requirements as Equivesto.  While it is not necessary to provide this information, it can improve the speed with which we can confirm your identity.  We use state of the art security to protect your data.

• Employment

  Why do we collect this information? An important part of the signup process on Equivesto is confirming that equity crowdfunding investments are a good fit for you.  Your employment information is an important piece of the puzzle when taking a holistic look at your financial situation.  Understanding your current employment status lets us know whether you are relying on your existing investments for income, or whether you have income from a job.  Given the risks of equity crowdfunding investments, Equivesto needs to understand the impact of any equity crowdfunding investment losses would have on your financial situation.

• Trusted Contact Person Information (Optional)

  Why do we collect this information?  As per Ontario Securities Commission amended to National Instrument 31-103 dated December 31, 2021, all Exempt Market Dealers (including Equivesto Canada Inc.) are required to request the name of a 'Trusted Contact Person' from all clients. The purpose of this requirement is to help protect older or more vulnerable investor clients from financial exploitation, and the trusted contact person DOES NOT have authority over your account or the ability to make financial decisions for you.
  
  You are not required to provide a name, but we encourage you to do so.
  
  The trusted contact should, if possible, be an independent party who would have no conflict of interest if called upon to assist in decisions about your account. Equivesto will contact the trusted contact person only if Equivesto is unable to contact you or Equivesto comes to believe that you have became incapable of handling your financial affairs or are being exploited financially. The purpose of the contact will be to obtain up-to-date contact information or to discuss Equivesto’s concerns and obtain the name and contact information of your legal representative. The trusted contact person does not have and will not have authority over your account and will not be provided specific information about your account or permitted to enter any instructions with regard to your account. Equivesto does not accept third-party authority over an account.

• Marital Status

  Why do we collect this information?  Marital status and dependant information are an important piece of information when combined with employment information to ensure that the risks of equity crowdfunding investments are not unsuitable for you.

• Annual Income & Net Worth

  Why do we collect this information? This information helps us determine your current financial situation and if equity crowdfunding is right for you.  The type of investor account and investment limits that are available to you are set by securities legislation and determined by either your total annual income or total net worth.  Your annual income and net worth help us understand your current financial position, and the impact the loss of an equity crowdfunding investment would have on you.  Please read below in the ‘What is Know Your Customer’ section for more details.

• Politically Exposed Person Status

  Why do we collect this?  We are required by law to take reasonable measures to determine whether you are a politically exposed person.  If you are, we must take reasonable measures to ensure that the funds you invest are not the proceeds of corruption.

• Investment Objectives & Risk Profile

  Why do we collect this information? Equity crowdfunding investments on Equivesto are high risk.  While they do have high potential rewards, there is also a risk that you could lose your whole investment, or that you could not sell your investment for many years.  As part of the work Equivesto does to understand whether Equity Crowdfunding investments are a good fit for you, we take the time to understand your overall investment goals and your willingness to take investment risks, and how equity crowdfunding can fit within those goals.  Yes, with a minimum investment on the platform of $100, equity crowdfunding does not necessarily make up a large portion of your total investments.  However, we must still ensure that you understand the investments before proceeding, and that they fit your investment objectives.  Please read below in the ‘What is Know Your Customer’ section for more information.

• Participation in other private investments

  Securities regulations may limit each investor’s participation in private investments in a 12 month period. Equivesto asks your to disclose any previous private investments in the previous 12 months in order to ensure that you do not exceed the applicable limit. 

What is ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC)

In Canada, all financial companies offering investments are required to complete KYC and build a detail profile of each customer.  Banks, Financial Advisers, Robo-advisers, Investment Professionals, Exempt Market Dealers (who offer investments in private companies), even discount brokerages like Questrade or Scotia iTrade are all required to complete some form of KYC.

KYC allows the financial company to review each client’s situation and confirm which products the company has are suitable for that client.  With so many financial products available to investors, regulations place the onus on the financial firm, rather than investors themselves, to make the determination which products fit the clients needs (understanding their own financial products is called ‘Know Your Product’).

Equivesto offers a variety of financial investment products, but all products are considered high risk.  As such, when we complete our KYC, it is to determine whether high risk investments and investing in private investments (exempt market) and is suitable for you. If high risk investments are not deemed a suitable investment product for you, Equivesto determines not to provide access to the platform to you.  This KYC process also helps us determine what type of investor account best suits you.  

Equivesto reviews our suitability determination for you every time you decide to participate in an investment, therefore it is important that you update the information you have provided to Equivesto with changes to any information that might affect that determination, such as marriage, family growth, job change or loss or income change.

These are some of the subject areas we review as part of our KYC:

• Investment knowledge

• Investment risk profile

• Investment time horizon

• Understanding of the risks involved

• Ability to absorb investment losses