On March 26, 2020, Corporations Canada issued a notice (Notice) entitled “Annual meetings of federal corporations during the COVID-19 outbreak”. The Notice acknowledges that hosting in-person annual meetings during the COVID-19 outbreak would contradict public health advice to practice physical distancing and self-isolation to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and outlines options for federal corporations to consider in order to remain compliant with the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA).
On March 23, 2020, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) issued Staff Notice 2020-0002 granting temporary blanket relief from certain provisions of the TSX Company Manual (Manual) and the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) issued a “Notice to Issuers” with similar temporary blanket relief, both in response to the
In January 2018, we posted this article on Timely Disclosure, “Bringing Your Annual Meeting into the Digital Age”. Virtual annual meetings have become highly relevant in light of the Coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic. Shareholders may well be reluctant to attend annual meetings; numerous public companies are examining measures they can take so that
We noted in our post of January 18, 2018 that the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) were reconsidering whether the CSA’s disclosure-based approach for issuers with U.S. marijuana-related activities remained appropriate. The CSA’s reconsideration was triggered by an announcement on January 4, 2018 by Jeff Sessions, Attorney General of the United States, which expressly rescinded previous nationwide guidance from the Obama-era specific to marijuana enforcement (or forbearance therefrom) in the United States, including a “Memorandum for All United States Attorneys” dated August 29, 2013 from James M. Cole, then-Deputy Attorney General of the United States. As we noted, while medicinal marijuana is legal in numerous American states and recreational marijuana is legal in several states, marijuana remains illegal at the federal level in the United States, thus creating a dilemma for the CSA with respect to Canadian issuers with marijuana-related activities in the United States.
On February 8, 2018, the CSA published CSA Staff Notice 51-352 (Revised) Issuers with U.S. Marijuana-Related Activities (Revised 51-352), setting out the expectations of CSA staff with respect to disclosure for specific risks faced by issuers with marijuana-related activities in the United States. In short, the CSA have maintained their disclosure-based approach for Canadian issuers with marijuana-related activities in the United States, as opposed to prohibiting such issuers from raising funds in Canada or listing on a Canadian stock exchange. Issuers will continue to be able to raise funds and list in Canada, notwithstanding the fact that their operations may be illegal under United States federal law and that they may face prosecution at any time, as long as such risks are adequately disclosed.
Annual meetings of shareholders of public companies often feature: attendance by a modest number of shareholders, and by the company’s external legal counsel, auditor, investor-relations firm, service providers and other assorted hangers-on; the casting of virtually all votes prior to the meeting by way of proxy; perfunctory reviews of the past fiscal year by the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer; and one or two desultory questions from shareholders. In short, annual meetings haven’t evolved in the last 30 years. Excitement arises only if activist shareholders storm the meeting or if unionized employees speak, particularly if a strike is threatened or in progress.
It’s time for public companies to bring their annual meetings into the digital age and to use them as an effective means of communicating with a large number of shareholders and with the investment community in general. A revamped annual meeting may even lead to reduced costs when compared to the traditional model of renting a conference room at a hotel and providing refreshments, as modest as they may be, for shareholders. Canadian corporate law provides a framework which can be used to increase shareholder access to annual meetings and to maximize the impact of annual meetings.
As noted in our post of October 18, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued CSA Staff Notice 51-352 Issuers with U.S. Marijuana-Related Activities on October 16, 2017. The CSA Staff Notice noted the discrepancy between United States federal and state law as it relates to the use and sale of marijuana. In short, while medicinal marijuana is legal in numerous American states and recreational marijuana is legal in several states, marijuana remains illegal at the federal level in the United States.
The CSA Staff Notice stated that how a company with marijuana activities in the United States ensures compliance with U.S. state-level regulatory frameworks forms an important part of that company’s Canadian continuous disclosure record, and set out specific, detailed disclosure requirements for issuers with marijuana-related activities in the United States, applicable to continuous disclosure documents such as an annual information form (AIF) or management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A), and to a prospectus in the event of a public offering.
All of that may have changed on January 4, 2018, when Jeff Sessions, Attorney General of the United States, issued a one-page “Memorandum for All United States Attorneys” regarding “Marijuana Enforcement” (Sessions Memorandum). The Sessions Memorandum expressly rescinded, effective immediately, previous nationwide guidance specific to marijuana enforcement in the United States, including a “Memorandum for All United States Attorneys” dated August 29, 2013 from James M. Cole, then-Deputy Attorney General of the United States, entitled “Guidance Regarding Marijuana Enforcement”. A press release issued by the U.S Department of Justice contemporaneous with the Sessions Memorandum announced that the Sessions Memorandum constitutes a “return to the rule of law” and that “Attorney General Jeff Sessions directs all U.S. Attorneys to enforce the laws enacted by Congress and to follow well-established principles when pursuing prosecutions related to marijuana activities”.
On October 19, 2017, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) announced that it had adopted two sets of amendments to the TSX Company Manual after a lengthy consultative process — see our earlier posts of June 4, 2016 and May 5, 2017. In short, the amendments relate to disclosure requirements for security-based compensation arrangements such as stock option plans and to website disclosure of certain corporate documents. This post will deal with each in turn.
Security-Based Compensation Arrangements
The amended disclosure requirements for security-based compensation arrangements will be effective for financial years ending on or after October 31, 2017. In other words, these changes are effective almost immediately. Technically, the new requirements are set out in amendments to section 613(d) and in new section 613(p) of the TSX Company Manual.
Under section 613(d), as amended, for a shareholders’ meeting at which approval is sought for a security-based compensation arrangement such as a stock option plan or other similar plan, and also on an annual basis, the management information circular must set out, as applicable, (i) the maximum number of securities issuable under the plan as a fixed number together with the percentage which the fixed number represents of the number of issued and outstanding shares, or the fixed percentage of the number of issued and outstanding shares; (ii) the number of outstanding securities awarded under the plan, together with the percentage this number represents of the number of issued and outstanding shares; and (iii) the total number of securities that remain available for grant under the plan together with the percentage that this number represents of the number of issued and outstanding shares.
On October 16, 2017, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) issued Staff Notice 2017-0009 regarding listed companies engaged in the marijuana business, whether directly or indirectly, in the United States. At the same time, the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) issued a Notice to Issuers virtually identical to the TSX Staff Notice. It is well-known that recreational cannabis has been legalized in certain American states (in alphabetical order, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington) yet remains illegal at the federal level in the United States. The TSX Staff Notice and TSXV Notice to Issuers clarify the position of the two Exchanges in light of this legal conundrum. In short, marijuana, the United States and listing on the TSX/TSXV do not mix.
The TSX Staff Notice states the general rule that a TSX-listed company must act in compliance with the rules and regulations of all regulatory bodies having jurisdiction over it. The Staff Notice notes that marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act, such that it is illegal under United States federal law to cultivate, distribute or possess marijuana, and that financial transactions involving proceeds generated by, or intended to promote, marijuana-related business activities in the United States may form the basis for prosecution under applicable U.S. federal money-laundering legislation.
According to the Staff Notice, companies listed on the TSX with ongoing business activities that violate United States federal law regarding marijuana are not in compliance with the requirements of the TSX. These business activities may include, among other things, (i) direct or indirect ownership of, or investment in, businesses engaged in the cultivation, distribution or possession of marijuana in the United States (which the Staff Notice refers to as “Subject Entities”), (ii) other commercial arrangements with Subject Entities (presumably, a joint venture, a “streaming” deal, or other similar contractual arrangement), (iii) providing services or products that are specifically designed for, or targeted at, Subject Entities, or (iv) commercial interests or arrangements with entities (CSA) engaging in the business activities described in (iii).
