IR Leader
March 18, 2014
CIRI Members can download your complimentary copy of the publications listed below:

A Starter's Guide to Sustainability Reporting
Chartered Professional Accountants Canada, March 2014

A Primer for Environmental & Social Disclosure
Chartered Professional Accountants Canada and TMX Group, March 2014
| Complete Article |

Top Stories

CSA Members Adopt New "Existing Security Holders" Prospectus Exemption

The CSA announced yesterday that the securities regulatory authorities in all Canadian jurisdictions, other than Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, have adopted a prospectus exemption that, subject to certain conditions, allows issuers listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V), and the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) to raise money by issuing securities to their existing security holders.

| View Original |

Canadian Securities Regulators Adopt New Exemption for Distributions to Existing Security Holders

The securities regulatory authorities in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Prince Edward Island today adopted a prospectus exemption that, subject to certain conditions, will allow issuers listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V), and the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) to raise money by distributing securities to their existing security holders.

| View Original |

CSA Adopts New Exemption

In an effort to ease the path for companies seeking to raise capital, securities regulators are going ahead with a new exemption that allows issuers to raise money from their existing shareholders without a prospectus.

| View Original |

Corporate Governance Update: Canadian Developments and Trends

The end of 2013 and early 2014 saw a variety of proposals and developments in Canada on a range of corporate governance matters. Here are a few areas to watch over the course of the coming months.

| View Original |

Board Developments - New TSX Majority Voting Rules and OSC Proposals for Gender Diversity

The Toronto Stock Exchange has adopted amendments to its rules relating to the election of directors. The new rules will require that, subject to certain exemptions, each director of a TSX-listed issuer will be required to be elected by a majority of the votes cast with respect to his or her election. These new rules will not apply to issuers listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.

| View Original |

Combined Chairman/CEO Roles: Easier Than You Think

In our work with shareholders and boards of directors, one question that has come up more than once in the last few months is "Should the chairman/CEO roles be split?" The common wisdom is that separating the roles serves up a better governance structure for shareholders because it provides a better balance of power. Further, the view is that the combined format has declined from almost 75% of S&P 500 companies having the combined roles in 2004 to just under 60% today and that, given this trend, we are inexorably headed to the minority having combined roles in the future. After all, this has been the corporate reality in Europe. And we have seen some very visible and acrimonious battles waged around splitting the roles.

| View Original |

High Frequency Trading: More Relaxed Than You Think

High-frequency trading is an unusual part of Wall Street where firms use supercharged computers to trade insanely fast, able to buy and sell millions of shares in a fraction of a second. The technology and tactics they use are impressive and also controversial, which is why some of the companies are reluctant to talk about what they do. A look inside reveals a culture that is quite different from that of the big banks and more like the casual environment favored by Silicon Valley.

| View Original |

Bloomberg Adds Social Sentiment Analytics to Trading Terminal

Bloomberg has added social sentiment analytics to its Professional desktop tool to provide traders with an early heads-up on market-moving Twitter trending topics.

| View Original |