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  • Wealthsimple: Navigating the Growth of Canada’s First Regulated Crypto–Exchange Platform

    Michael Katchen, chief executive officer and co-founder of Wealthsimple Technologies Inc. (Wealthsimple), made history when his company launched Canada’s first regulated cryptocurrency exchange in 2020. By designing a platform complying with regulations, Wealthsimple provided Canadians with a safer and more secure platform to invest in cryptocurrency, thereby creating a point of differentiation and source of competitive advantage for the company. However, the perceived risks of cryptocurrency-based products meant that Wealthsimple’s pivot into cryptocurrency had not been met with unanimous support, with some industry commentators claiming that Wealthsimple’s strategy to enter cryptocurrency and the higher transaction fees that followed stood in stark contrast to the low-risk investment strategy and principle of wealth democratization upon which Katchen had founded the company. In 2022, with an aim to grow its user base, Wealthsimple had to consider whether to continue to expand in the Canadian cryptocurrency industry. Could it achieve its growth objectives by expanding its crypto offerings, or should it explore alternatives outside the sector?
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  • The Canadian Director’s Dilemma

    Shareholder primacy has been a widely accepted norm in the business community for decades, leading executives and directors to focus on maximizing profits along with the value of the corporation’s shares. Nevertheless, critics have long questioned whether public companies should prioritize the interests of investors over the interests of other stakeholders. The most recent analysis of the legal standard that dictates the fiduciary duty of directors in Canadian corporate law was issued in 2008 when the Supreme Court of Canada released the BCE v 1976 Debentureholders decision. Some scholars theorized that this decision signalled a shift toward a more stakeholder-friendly model of corporate governance by calling on directors to act in the “best interests of the corporation.” This article provides an overview of the framework governing the fiduciary duty of directors with an analysis of the historical and economic context that has underpinned this area of corporate law since the Great Depression. It then examines what director duties within Canada might look like in the future while offering insights from the landmark BCE decision to help manage the director’s dilemma. The BCE decision suggests that when competing interests arise, the overriding principle for corporate directors should be to act in the best interests of the corporation by making decisions that aim to drive long-term success, as opposed to immediate profits and increased share value.
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