IR Leader
December 09, 2014

Top Stories

Proposed Amendments to CDS Fee Schedule re Issuer Services Program - Notice and Request for Comment

CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc. (CDS) recently proposed amendments to its fee schedule for issuer services.

COMMENT PERIOD ENDS DECEMBER 13, 2014

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Canadian Securities Administrators Propose Significant Amendments to Rights Offering Regime

On November 27, 2014, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published proposed amendments to the rights offering regime that aim to make rights offerings more expedient and less costly by creating a streamlined prospectus exemption for reporting issuers (Proposed Exemption). The proposed amendments also aim to increase investor protection with the addition of civil liability for secondary market disclosure and the introduction of a more user-friendly form of rights offering circular document. Finally, the proposed amendments would also update requirements for prospectus-based rights offerings and would repeal the prospectus exemption for rights offerings by non-reporting issuers. This article highlights several of the proposed changes.

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Canadian Securities Regulators Introduce Amendments to Oil and Gas Disclosure

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have introduced amendments to National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (NI 51-101) and related forms, which are designed to improve and clarify the disclosure of reporting issuers in the oil and gas industry. Revised versions of Companion Policy 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (Companion Policy), CSA Staff Notice 51-324 Revised Glossary to NI 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (CSA Staff Notice 51-324) and CSA Staff Notice 51-327 Revised Guidance on Oil and Gas Disclosure (CSA Staff Notice 51-327) have also been published.

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Canadian Securities Regulators Release IIROC Oversight Review Report

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today released the Oversight Review Report that focuses on certain functional areas and key processes of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).

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Useful Information on How Institutional Investors Review Proxies

In a previous blog ("ABA Discusses Four Hot Topics") I promised to provide further information on the key topics discussed at the American Bar Association's Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation & Section 16 Subcommittee. However, I left one important topic off the list: a report presented by Ron Schneider of global financial communications giant R.R. Donnelley on its "Groundbreaking Investor Survey: What You Need to Know Before Drafting Your Next Proxy." The report contains several important insights that all of us who work in this area ought to consider.

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CSA Adopt Enhanced Oil and Gas Disclosure Rules

The CSA today released amendments to NI 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities intended to promote the disclosure of resources other than reserves, while also improving flexibility for issuers.

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'Comply or Explain' Is Coming. Here's How You Can Get Ahead of It

As you probably already know, the Ontario Securities Commission is implementing amendments to its corporate governance guidelines to address the persistent underrepresentation of women on boards and in executive positions.

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Equal Rights For Everyone

Just days after Canada's flawed rights offering regime made headlines, on November 27th the Canadian Securities Administrators (the "CSA") published for further comment revised proposed amendments that would create a streamlined prospectus exemption for rights offerings by reporting issuers (the "Proposed Amendments"). The Proposed Amendments have been designed to make rights offerings more attractive to reporting issuers by decreasing both the time and costs involved.

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Prospectus Offerings: 5 More Questions Issuers Need to Consider

In our September 2014 Blakes Bulletin: Prospectus Offerings: 5 Questions Issuers Need to Consider (Initial Bulletin), we identified five questions Canadian public companies raising capital should consider. In this article, we identify five further questions to be considered prior to launching a prospectus offering of securities.

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Muddling Up the Market: New Exempt-Market Regulations May Do More Harm Than Good to the Integrity of Markets

From private debt and equity markets to crowd funding, exempt markets have been used to raise more money for Canadian enterprises in recent years than all public offerings put together. Vastly more: Between 2010 and 2012, exempt-market offerings raised four times as much capital as the initial and secondary public offerings during the same period. The precise reasons behind the immense popularity of exempt markets can only be guessed at; it may well be due to the desire, by both issuers and by investors, to avoid the regulatory costs associated with raising capital in public markets. We are left to speculate, however, because the Canadian exempt market remains relatively unstudied, despite its enormous role in funding capital investments in Canada.

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Shareholders More Demanding About Having Say In Companies' Policies

Shareholders filed 72 resolutions about climate change so far this year, a drastic jump from the 26 filed two years ago, according to the US SIF Foundation report on shareholder advocacy released recently.

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SEC Opens Investigation Into Trading 'Dark pools'

The government is about to take the plunge into trading "dark pools."

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