Since their inception, cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technologies have been touted by their promoters as both secure and anonymous. Unfortunately, as a number of recent breaches by hackers into blockchain-based cryptocurrency exchanges have shown, this is not the case. Blockchain technology, which relies upon…
The provinces and territory (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, and Yukon – the Participating Jurisdictions) participating in the development of the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System (Cooperative System) have published for comment a draft prospectus and related registration exemption regulations (the…
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has published for comment Proposed National Instrument 93-102 Derivatives: Registration and Proposed Companion Policy 93-102 Derivatives: Registration (Together, these are referred to as the Proposed Instrument.) The 150-day comment period ends September 17, 2018. The Proposed Instrument, together with the Proposed…
Barbara Hendrickson will speak at the Canadian Bar Association Environmental, Energy & Resources Law Summit on May 31 – June 1, 2018 in Winnipeg Manitoba on “Environment and Financial Markets” Barbara will speak on a CBA panel which will review the roles of legal counsel…
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has published for comment CSA Staff Notice 61-303 and Request for Comment Soliciting Dealer Arrangements (The Staff Notice). The Staff Notice outlines regulatory issues raised by soliciting dealer arrangements and seeks input on the practice. The 60-day comment period ends…
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today that its Mediation Program, which began as a pilot in 2015, will now continue on a permanent basis. The Mediation Program, the first and only of its kind in Canada offered by a securities regulator provides a forum…
On April 5, 2018, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published CSA Staff Notice 51-354 Report on Climate change-related Disclosure Project (The Staff Notice). The Staff Notice summarizes the results of the CSA’s review of the disclosure by reporting issuers of the risks and financial impacts associated…
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today it is investigating several cryptocurrency platforms after receiving a number of complaints. The OSC said that the platforms and any businesses that allow cryptocurrencies that are securities as defined under CSA Staff Notice 46-307 Cryptocurrency Offerings (the Staff…
On March 28 2018, in an effort to stop online fraud being carried out through its social networking service, Twitter began blocking all advertisements promoting Initial Token Offerings (ITOs). ITOs also referred to as an Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), are similar to Initial Public Offerings…
On March 20 2018, the Ontario Securities Commission published OSC Staff Notice 11-779 Seniors Strategy (the Staff Notice), which outlined new initiatives to respond to the needs of older investors and better equip registered firms and representatives to address issues that may arise as their…