IR Leader
December 04, 2012

Top Stories

CSA Adopts "Notice-and- Access" Rules and other Amendments to Improve Issuer Communications with Investors

The Canadian Securities Administrators (the "CSA") recently adopted amendments to National Instrument 54-101 Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer, National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations, and related forms and companion policies, intended to improve communications between reporting issuers and their shareholders.

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Integrated Governance for Sustainable Success

A new report by the Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) shows that good governance is not just about protecting stakeholders' interests and satisfying regulatory requirements.

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"Gross Over or Under Value" Not Grounds for Overturning Share Valuation

There are few circumstances in which courts will allow obvious errors committed by a decision-maker to go uncorrected. However, one situation in which courts will not intervene to correct a mistake is the valuation of a corporation's shares when the parties have agreed to refer the decision to a valuator.

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Canadian Securities Regulators Adopt Amendments to Improve Issuer Communications with Investors

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced today the adoption of amendments to National Instrument 54-101 Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer and National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations, which intend to improve communications between reporting issuers and their shareholders in the proxy voting process.

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Three Tools for Shareholder Activism

A recent conference in Toronto organized by Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVAC) featured a presentation by Matthew Cumming and Andrew Matheson, both partners at McCarthy Tétrault LLP and adjunct professors in the University of Toronto Law School, on the key legal tools shareholders have at their disposal to exert influence on the companies they've invested in.

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Secret Proxy Fights: Is Your Board About to be Replaced Without Your Knowledge? Advance Notice By-laws May Save the Day

Despite the effort that Canadian companies make to properly identify, vet, and educate director nominees, for most of these companies, unknown, unproven and, at times, undesirable director candidates can be nominated directly from the floor of shareholder meetings – with no advance notice or disclosure to shareholders or management.

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ISS Issues 2013 Corporate Governance Recommendations

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has released its 2013 updates to corporate governance policy, which include some variations from the proposed updates it issued mid-October for public comment.

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Does Shareholder Activism Accomplish Anything?

Outrage over rising executive pay levels during the economic crisis of 2008 was the driving force behind the "Say on Pay" rule, a component of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act that gave shareholders a nonbinding vote on executive pay.

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TSX Adopts "Comply or Explain" Majority-Voting Rules for the Election of Directors (for Now)

On October 4, 2012, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) adopted amendments to Part IV of the TSX Company Manual (Manual), implementing new provisions for the election of directors of TSX-listed companies. In short, companies listed on the TSX will either have to adopt a "majority-voting" policy for the election of directors, or disclose publicly why they have not done so.

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