On April 4, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published for comment Proposed National Instrument 93-101 Derivatives: Business Conduct (“Proposed Instrument”) and a related proposed companion policy, 93-101 Derivatives: Business Conduct (“Proposed CP”). The comment period will last 150 days, closing on September 1, 2017, during…
Introduction Mortgage investment corporations (“MICs”) are created under section 130.1 of the Income Tax Act which sets out the rules that apply to mortgage investment corporations and their shareholders. MICs primarily invest in mortgages including commercial, industrial, developmental and residential mortgages and are designed to…
On September 6th, 2017 the British Columbia Securities Commission (“BCSC”) announced the first registration of an investment fund manager in Canada solely dedicated to cryptocurrency investments. The BCSC has granted First Block Capital Inc. registration as an investment fund manager and an exempt market dealer in…
In late July 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published the final amendments (the Amendments) to National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations (NI 31-103) and National Instrument 33-109 Registration Information (NI 33-109) and their respective Companion Policies, 31-103CP and 33-109CP. The…
On August 24, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) published CSA Staff Notice 46-307 Cryptocurrency Offerings (“Notice”), to address the increasing number of cryptocurrency offerings, either through Initial Token Offerings (“ITOs”) or Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) and sales of securities of cryptocurrency investment funds. A…
On July 14, 2017 the Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”) published its 278-page decision respecting Sino-Forest. The panel found that the respondents, former CEO Allan Chan and three other executives of Sino-Forest Corporation – Alfred Hung, George Ho and Albert Ip breached Ontario securities laws. Allen…
On July 29, 2017, the securities regulatory authorities in Ontario, Québec, Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick (the participating jurisdictions) published CSA Multilateral Staff Notice 61-302 Staff Review and Commentary on Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (the Notice”). The notice outlines the…
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On July 13, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) published CSA Staff Notice CSA 33-320, The Requirement for True and Complete Applications for Registration to state its concern to stakeholders regarding what it calls the “serious problem” of applications for registration that contain false or…
On June 15, 2017, the Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”) released OSC Staff Notice 45-715, 2017 Ontario Exempt Market Report (“Report”) which summarizes capital raising activity in 2015 and 2016 by corporate (non-investment fund) issuers in Ontario’s exempt market. The Report also examines the impact of…