The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today published an update about the management of conflicts of interest arising from soliciting dealer arrangements.
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The year 2018 witnessed ongoing volatility in global markets, fuelled by geopolitical uncertainty, rising trade tensions and slowing world economies. In Canada, emerging market sectors continued to gain steam, most notably the cannabis industry, which experienced a dramatic uptick in investment and M&A activity as the country became the first major economy to legalize recreational use. Several other notable trends came to light, including a resurgence of reverse takeovers and evolving industry standards regarding fairness opinions. On the regulatory and judicial fronts, significant developments clarified and expanded disclosure obligations, and a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada stood to mark a turning point for securities regulation in parts of the country.
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No longer content to be silent bystanders, these growing categories of investors are demanding more outreach from IR pros and CFOs.
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There is a lot to be excited about in ESG in 2019: unprecedented global growth, traction in some of the most unlikely markets in the world, asset proliferation, and more. These are all indicators of scale and mainstreaming.
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As discussed in our recent posting, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has identified regulatory burden reduction as one of its key priorities for the coming year. The Ontario government is actively encouraging these initiatives. The OSC recently established a Burden Reduction Task Force and announced a series of related roundtable discussions for stakeholders.
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The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) are seeking input on the development of an integrated and comprehensive records filing system for Canada's capital markets (Renewed System) that will, among other things, replace the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR), the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI), the National Registration Database (NRD) and various local records filing systems.
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How does a company go bankrupt because of a forest fire? How does an investment grade company fall to junk status in a week? Just ask Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) how 2018 stacked up for them. What can we learn from this to be able to ask our investee companies the right questions? Risk assessment and management has always been a fundamental element of the investment process. Understanding and anticipating the forces that can affect profitability, many would argue, is the most important element to managing a successful portfolio. Today's risks require a new set of questions; flooding, fires, labour conditions, executive compensation, gender diversity and corporate governance issues all continue to make headlines and impact valuations.
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Canadian issuers are beginning to notice the impact of Mifid II on their marketing calendars, sell-side coverage and quality of conferences, according to the panelists at last month's IR Magazine Forum in Toronto.
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As the extractive sector completes a third reporting cycle under Canada's Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), the uncertainty around reporting requirements among participants has receded. However, as requirements continue to evolve, certain challenges remain, particularly with respect to joint ventures.
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