TORONTO – After accidentally posting a list of thousands of brokers and the number of complaints against them on the internet, the Investment Dealers Association is trying to regain control of the information and minimize any damage done.

Lawyers for the IDA have sent a letter to Robert Kyle, the former director of the Consumers Council of Canada and the Small Investor Protection Association, discovered the list on the IDA's website and has since posted it to his own website.

Kyle has been openly critical of the IDA's ability to adequately regulate the industry.

“You must immediately remove from your website the information relating to IDA members and brokers,” the letter states. “The IDA does not accept any responsibility as a result of your unauthorized and wrongful publication and disclosure of the information in any way and, further, will hold you responsible for any loss or damages incurred as a result of you doing so.”

In January, Kyle discovered the data, which includes complaints from late 2002 to mid-2005, was on the IDA's website for more than a year before he came across it.

The IDA removed the information from its own website in late January, after it became aware that it could be accessed by the public.