On March 11, 2021, the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) published Staff Notice 51-363 – Observations on Disclosure by Crypto Assets Reporting (“Notice 51-363”), the first update from CSA regarding entities dealing in crypto assets in more than a year[1]. Based on the disclosure of reporting issuers acting in the crypto asset space, Notice 51-363 provides staff guidance on expectations for disclosure in this industry.

Crypto asset reporting issuers have the same obligations as other public companies in disclosing material information and changes that affecting their businesses, as well as the financial impacts of such risks. Notice 51-363 reiterates the importance of fulfilling these obligations, and at the same time, recognizes the emerging nature of the crypto asset industry and novel issues reporting issuers may face.

Notice 51-363 can assist current and future reporting issuers because it provides detailed guidance on disclosure expectations in the context of crypto assets industry and highlights perceived insufficiencies in the disclosure of current reporting issuers.
Continue Reading CSA urging crypto asset reporting issuers to improve disclosure quality

The author wishes to thank Gilles Leclerc for his advice and contributions.

“Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It’s awful.” This quote from Estragon, one of the main characters in Samuel Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot”, summarizes well the previous year from an economic and social perspective. Today, while the hopes of a vaccine rollout and economic recovery are looming on the horizon,
the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a material adverse impact on our economy. It poses widespread challenges for many businesses, including challenges in reporting and disclosing the effect of Covid-19 to investors.

In a series of bulletins[1] published last year, we highlighted the guidance provided by both the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA“) and the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission relating to the continuous disclosure obligations of public issuers in the context of Covid-19. On February 25, 2021,  CSA issued Staff Notice 51-362 (the “Staff Notice“) to report the results of  their review of the disclosure provided by reporting issuers on the impact of Covid-19 on their business. CSA examined the filings of approximately 90 issuers
Continue Reading Continuous Disclosure Obligations in Times of a Continuous Pandemic: Canadian Securities Regulators’ Review of Issuers’ Disclosure

On January 3, 2019, the final phase of the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”)’s Modernization of Investment Fund Product Regulation Project relating to the establishment of a regulatory framework for alternative mutual funds came into effect. These amendments introduced a new category of mutual funds, “alternative mutual funds”, which are mutual funds that have

Le 3 janvier 2019, la dernière étape du projet de modernisation de la réglementation des produits de fonds d’investissement des Autorités canadiennes en valeurs mobilières (les « ACVM ») concernant l’établissement d’un encadrement réglementaire des organismes de placement collectif est entrée en vigueur. Ces modifications ont introduit une nouvelle catégorie d’organismes de placement (ci-après, les « OPC »), soit les « OPC alternatifs », une expression qui désigne les OPC qui ont adopté des objectifs de placement leur permettant d’investir dans des marchandises physiques ou des dérivés visés, d’emprunter des fonds ou d’effectuer des ventes à découvert d’une manière généralement non permise aux OPC « réguliers ».

Ces modifications ont transféré la majorité du cadre réglementaire alors applicable aux fonds de marché à terme en vertu du Règlement 81-104 sur les fonds marché à terme (renommé le Règlement 81-104 sur les organismes de placement collectif alternatifs) (le « règlement 81-104 ») vers le Règlement 81-102 sur les fonds d’investissement, à l’exception des normes de formation visant les courtiers en épargne collective qui font des opérations sur des OPC alternatifs. Ces normes de formation interdisent aux personnes physiques dont les activités sont restreintes aux OPC[1] (les « personnes physiques dont les activités sont restreintes ») de faire des opérations sur les titres d’un OPC alternatifs sauf si elles ont réussi l’un des cours prévus dans la partie 4 du règlement 81-104. Ces normes de formation ont été conservées par les ACVM, qui « [reconnaît] que les OPC alternatifs peuvent être plus complexes que d’autres types d’OPC, et qu’une formation additionnelle pourrait s’avérer nécessaire pour les courtiers en épargne collective offrant ces produits[2] ». Selon les ACVM, le maintien de normes de formation plus rigoureuses à l’égard des OPC alternatifs contribuera à mieux outiller les personnes physiques dont les activités sont restreintes pour offrir ces produits.
Continue Reading Nouvelles options de formation pour les OPC alternatifs

On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed an action against Ripple Labs Inc. (“Ripple”), Christian Larsen, the company’s co-founder, executive chairman of its board, and former CEO; and Bradley Garlinghouse, the company’s current CEO (together, the “Defendants”) for conducting an unregistered securities offering with a total value of US$1.38 billion.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) recently published a Staff Notice (the “Notice”) to report on the results of the reviews conducted  by the CSA within the scope of its Continuous Disclosure Review Program. The goal of this program is to improve the completeness, quality and timeliness of continuous disclosure provided by reporting issuers.

The focus on this post is mainly aimed towards the Notice’s guidance for continuous disclosure in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. In order to support investors in making informed investment decisions, CSA reminds reporting issuers to provide transparent disclosure, including information about the impact of COVID-19 on their operating performance, financial position, liquidity and future prospects. The guidance builds on information disseminated by the CSA earlier this year, as we have discussed in this previous blog post.
Continue Reading Canadian Securities Administrators publish Guidance on Continuous Disclosure in Time of COVID-19

The Ontario Securities Commission, like several other regulatory investigators, has extensive power to compel testimony and require the disclosure of documents and information.  A recent decision of the OSC, B (Re) (2020 ONSEC 21), has highlighted a gap in the Commission’s power to compel testimony from a witness where such testimony may constitute a breach of the witness’s contractual obligations to a third party.

The Case

Staff of the Commission is conducting an investigation pursuant to an investigation order issued by the OSC under section 11 of the Securities Act.  Investigation orders empower Staff to issue a summons pursuant to section 13 of the Act, to compel an individual to provide oral testimony under oath and to provide documentary evidence.  Section 16 of the Act prohibits the recipient of a summons from disclosing information relating to the summons or the investigation, subject to narrow exceptions.

Staff served upon an individual, identified only as “B”, a summons under section 13 of the Act.  Although B was prepared to cooperate with Staff, B was concerned that doing so would violate B’s employment contract, which imposes confidentiality over all matters relating to B’s employment without an exception that is relevant to a regulatory investigation.
Continue Reading Recent OSC Decision Raises Uncertainty for Witnesses Responding to a Summons

Further to our earlier post discussing COVID-19 and Material Adverse Change (“MAC”) provisions in merger and acquisition agreements, and the procedural ruling in respect of the dispute involving Rifco Inc. (“Rifco”), ACC Holdings Inc. (“Purchaser”), and the Purchaser’s parent company, CanCap Management Inc. (“CanCap”), each of Rifco, the Purchaser and CanCap, (collectively, the “Parties”) settled

Introduction

On June 25, 2020 the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) released their Consultation Paper 25-402 – Consultation on the Self-Regulation Organization Framework (“Consultation Paper”). The Consultation Paper discusses seven key issues of the existing framework for self-regulatory organizations (“SROs”) and is seeking feedback from industry representatives, investor advocates, and the public on how the innovation

Overview

In an effort to reduce the regulatory burden for issuers who wish to conduct “at-the-market” (“ATM”) offerings in Canada and facilitate capital raising by public companies, the Canadian Securities Administrators (the “CSA”) announced significant amendments (the “Amendments”) to the ATM distribution regime under National Instrument 44-102 – Shelf