On March 16, 2020 the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued a press release which encourages reporting issuers to contact their principal regulator to discuss any potential effect of the current COVID-19 outbreak on their ability to comply with their obligations under securities legislation, including filing deadlines…

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have issued CSA Staff Notice 43-310 Confidential Pre-File Review of Prospectuses (for non-investment fund issuers) (the Staff Notice). The Staff Notice expands the availability of confidential pre-file reviews that some CSA jurisdictions are already conducting. Pre-file review (the pre-file process)…

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have published CSA Staff Notice 21-328 Regulatory Approach to Foreign Marketplaces Trading Fixed Income Securities(the Staff Notice). The Staff Notice discusses the framework developed by the CSA that will grant exemptions to foreign alternative trading systems trading fixed income securities…

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has published for comment Proposed Ontario Securities Rule 81-502, Restrictions on the use of the Deferred Sales Charge Option for Mutual Funds (The Proposed Rule) restricting the use of deferred sales charges (the DSC Option) on mutual funds, for a…

As the COVID-19 coronavirus spreads across the globe, investor uncertainty over the economic impact of the coronavirus is increasingly reflected in the markets. Financial regulators have begun to take note and react. Early in March, in the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)…

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have published Proposed National Instrument 45-110 Start-up Crowdfunding Registration and Prospectus Exemptions (the Proposed National Instrument), for a 90-day comment period ending May 27, 2020. The Proposed National Instrument would replace and further harmonize the crowdfunding requirements currently in effect in…

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have adopted a ban on deferred sales charges (the DSC Option) on mutual funds. Specifically, the ban will prohibit the payment by fund organizations of upfront sales commissions to dealers, which will result in the discontinuation of all forms of…

In its recent MFDA Special Report on Securities Industry Self-Regulation (the Report), The Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) has proposed the creation of a new securities regulator that if adopted, would replace MFDA. The Report, which explores the self-regulatory organization (SRO) environment in Canada, proposes…

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have published CSA Staff Notice 23-326, Order Protection Rule: Market Share Threshold for the period April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 (the Staff Notice and Proposed Rule), for a second notice and comment period ending May 13, 2020. The…

Two recent announcements, one in the United States, and the other in the European Union, provide further evidence that securities regulators are paying closer to attention to climate change disclosure by market participants. A recent address by Jay Clayton, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange…