On March 31, 2018, the new rules from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) on distributions of securities outside of Canada came into force. OSC Rule 72-503 Distributions Outside Canada (Rule 72-503) provides clarity on a previously opaque subject in Canadian securities law: how do market participants comply with securities law when selling securities to buyers that reside in other countries? In response to this ambiguity, Rule 72-503 creates four new exemptions from the Ontario prospectus requirement for issuers distributing securities to buyers residing in other countries.

Background

Since its publication in 1983, Interpretation Note 1 Distributions of Securities of Ontario (Interpretation Note) governed OSC policy on distributions outside of Canada. As a statement of principle, the Interpretation Note allows distributions of securities effected outside of Ontario without triggering Ontario’s prospectus requirement where “reasonable steps are taken by the issuer, underwriter and other participants effecting such distributions to ensure that such securities come to rest outside of Ontario.” The Interpretation Note then cites several examples of such “reasonable steps” including representations in the selling documents and legends on the securities, without committing to a bright-line test or concrete criteria. In the intervening decades, market participants have often complained about the vagueness of the Interpretation Note and the corresponding lack of certainty to international securities offerings in an increasingly globalized world.Continue Reading Ontario’s New Rules on Distributions Outside Canada Now In Effect