Canadian Investors No Longer Own Their Investments and Few Realize It

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How your savings could vanish in the next collapse and why the banks want to keep you in the dark

Peter J. Merrick, TEP and I are writing a book titled It Starts With Gold. The contents of the following article are discussed in the book, set to be released on March 17th, 2025. This article highlights one of the most alarming risks investors face today. It is a risk hidden deep within the global financial system. It is the risk that your life savings, your pension, your RRSP, and even your non-registered investments could be legally confiscated in a future financial collapse. This is not hyperbole. It is baked into the system itself, and unless individuals understand how it works, they will never know what hit them.

This article is based on the explosive revelations in?STOP IT! The Great Taking Documentary Film documents the decades-long legal restructuring of property rights in financial assets. The film builds on research by David Rogers Webb, whose career in global finance allowed him to piece together a hidden scheme so audacious that most people dismiss it outright until they see the legal documents for themselves.

How Property Rights Were Quietly Stripped Away

Decades ago, investors who bought stocks and bonds held physical paper certificates. Those certificates were legal proof of ownership. They represented direct property rights. If the broker or custodian collapsed, the investor still owned the asset because the certificate proved legal title.

That changed when securities were dematerialized. Physical certificates were eliminated, replaced by electronic records. Investors were told this was for convenience, making trading faster and more efficient. What they were not told was that this shift severed their legal property rights. Once securities became electronic book entries, ownership became indirect. Investors were no longer true owners. They became unsecured creditors with only a contractual claim against their broker or custodian, not a legal claim on the actual asset itself.

Who Really Owns Your Investments Today

In Canada, securities are ultimately held by the Canadian Depository for Securities, known as CDS. Investors’ assets are pooled together in giant omnibus accounts, making it impossible to identify which investor owns which specific share or bond. At this stage, investors do not own specific securities. They hold an entitlement, essentially a promise that they should receive their fair share if everything goes well.

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This is where the risk starts to grow. Financial institutions regularly pledge those pooled assets as collateral to backstop trades in derivatives markets. This happens without individual investors’ consent or even knowledge, whether they use leverage themselves or have fully paid accounts. The system treats all assets in the pool as a single lump of collateral for the benefit of the largest financial institutions.

The Great Taking – The Trap Set for the Next Collapse

When the next financial crisis strikes, automatic collateral calls will kick in. The financial institutions at the top of the chain, the prime brokers and global custodians, will seize assets from the pool to cover their losses. Under the current legal framework, they will have first priority, followed by individual investors.

This is not just a theoretical risk. The legal foundation for this is already established in Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code in the United States. Canada operates under a similar framework, aligned through global banking regulations. In both systems, investors’ direct property rights were replaced with weaker securities entitlements. These entitlements do not guarantee actual recovery in a collapse. They only give investors a spot in line, at the very back.

Why Banks Are Fighting to Keep You in the Dark

This legal trick allows banks to treat investors’ assets as their own collateral, creating enormous leverage. This leverage has allowed the global derivatives market to swell to well over two quadrillion dollars, far larger than the value of all stocks, bonds, and real estate combined.

When some American state legislators tried to fix this by introducing bills to restore direct property rights, the banking lobby unleashed a full-scale defence. Lobbyists warned that if states protected investors, banks might refuse to do business in those states. That threat alone reveals how fragile the system is and how essential this free collateral is to its survival.

This is not just an American problem. The Canadian system is structurally identical. The Canadian Depository for Securities uses the same pooled custody model. If a major financial institution fails, Canadian investors could face the same fate as American investors: total loss of their assets through no fault of their own.

What This Means for Canadian Investors

This affects every Canadian with a brokerage account, RRSP, TFSA, or pension. Even self-directed accounts are vulnerable once assets enter the pooled system. Most mutual funds and ETFs never offered paper certificates, meaning those assets were never truly owned in the first place.

The bottom line is simple: If your assets are held electronically inside the system, you do not legally own them.

Watch The Following Documentary for Full Details

How to Protect Yourself

To survive the next financial collapse and preserve your wealth, investors must act now. Building the Four Critical Pillars of Financial Survival provides a clear path forward:

1. Gold and Precious Metals – The ultimate, unshakable foundation, offering tangible and timeless protection that transcends the volatility of digital and fiat currency assets.
2. Alternative Investments – Diversified opportunities beyond traditional assets, strategically designed to reduce risk and strengthen your financial resilience.
3. Active Discretionary Private Portfolio Management?is a professionally managed,?De-Risked?investment approach designed to protect wealth precisely during financial market instability. This strategy offers a secure custodial structure that safeguards assets, enhances transparency, and minimizes counterparty risk. Unlike traditional brokerage firms that pool client assets, this model ensures direct asset ownership, fiduciary oversight, and active risk management. By aligning portfolios with long-term financial goals, it provides a more resilient alternative to conventional investment management.
4. Financial Instruments Offered by Mutual Life Insurance Companies – Mutual life insurance companies provide a robust and stable foundation for wealth protection. Unlike publicly traded stockholder-owned insurance companies, which prioritize shareholder profits, mutual life insurers are owned by their policyholders. This ownership structure ensures that financial security remains the primary focus, offering long-term stability and resilience in an unpredictable economic environment.

These Four Critical Pillars of Financial Survival are not optional. They are the only reliable lifelines left to protect wealth in a collapsing financial system that favours the largest banks at the expense of ordinary investors.

A Partnership for Holistic Wealth Management

For investors ready to de-risk their wealth, partnering with a dedicated wealth management team is essential. As a dedicated advocate for de-risking business, family, and multigenerational wealth, I work with one of Canada’s leading independent private wealth management firms. My team serves high-net-worth clients across Canada, delivering professional investment management and comprehensive wealth planning focused on capital preservation.

We emphasize consistent, tax-efficient returns uncorrelated to public markets. By leveraging our team’s expertise, clients gain access to alternative investments like private equity, private real estate, precious metals, commodities, government-sanctioned flow-through tax-efficient structures, and corporate insurance solutions through mutual insurers.

Complimentary Portfolio Evaluation

I am offering a complimentary portfolio evaluation for investors who want a deeper understanding of their current financial position. We can discuss how investing in private equity, private real estate, precious metals, commodities, flow-through structures, and tax-minimizing corporate insurance can fortify your portfolio against financial institution risk, economic threats, inflation, and higher taxes. To book your consultation, please email me at?[email protected] or use my?Calendly Link.

Why Physical Gold Should Be the Foundation of Your Portfolio

Gold’s stability and reliability make it essential for any well-diversified portfolio. Its value holds steady during economic turbulence, protecting against inflation and financial uncertainty. Unlike paper assets, gold is a tangible asset that maintains its worth over time. Given the vulnerabilities in the financial system, owning a secure and tangible asset like gold is critical.

Gold also acts as portfolio insurance. It helps offset losses during market downturns and protects wealth when stocks and bonds suffer. Investors should contact New World Precious Metals to discuss purchasing physical gold and silver directly.

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Disclaimer

The information provided is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, real estate, estate planning, wealth planning, financial planning, tax planning, insurance, or any other financial-related advice. It should not be viewed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any financial products or assets. All investments, including stocks, bonds, private equity, private real estate, alternative assets, and precious metals, carry inherent risks, including loss of principal. Markets are unpredictable, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Diversification may reduce risk but does not ensure protection against loss. Real estate and precious metals are subject to market volatility, economic conditions, and illiquidity. Alternative investments, such as private equity, private real estate, and private debt, often involve complex legal structures, longer time horizons, and higher risk, requiring careful consideration and professional advice. Insurance, estate planning, wealth planning, real estate, and tax planning decisions, as well as any financial strategies, must be tailored to the unique circumstances, goals, and risk tolerance of each individual. Tax and legal implications vary by person and jurisdiction, and changes in laws can affect outcomes. It is crucial to consult with licensed financial, legal, tax, insurance, real estate, and mortgage professionals before making decisions. Forward-looking predictions are the opinion of the author and do not constitute financial advice. By using this information, you acknowledge it is general in nature and not a substitute for personalized advice, and you agree that the authors and affiliated entities are not liable for any financial losses or consequences from reliance on the content provided.

References

1. STOP IT! The Great Taking Documentary Film
2. The Great Taking Report
3. Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS)

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