PEOPLE - Getting Tough

Canadian securities regulators announced last month that CEOs and chief compliance officers of money management companies, including hedge funds and mutual funds, would be required to register with local regulators and undergo background checks.

"It allows us to prevent people from going in who shouldn't go in," says Ontario Securities Commission capital markets director Randee Pavalow, who was involved in drafting the new rules. Jean St-Gelais, 48, Canada's chief securities regulator, says the measures were created in the wake of two Canadian hedge fund blowups: Portus Alternative Asset Management of Toronto and Norshield Financial Corp. of Montreal, both of which collapsed in 2005