Category Archives: Corporate Finance

Something old, something new: Proposed amendments to the CBCA in the 2019 budget implementation bill

On April 8, 2019, the federal government introduced Bill C-97 to implement measures from its spring budget. The bill proposes amendments to many federal statutes, including several important amendments to the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) relevant to both private and public companies. Our summary of the proposed changes is set out below, some of… Continue Reading

At-The-Market Offerings In The Canadian Capital Markets: Flexibility At A Lower Cost

By Dana Gregoire and John Sabetti on August 15, 2017 Posted in Corporate Finance

When seeking to access capital in the public markets in an uncertain economy, traditional follow-on financing methods might not be the right choice for some issuers. It may be that “bought deal” and “best efforts” public financings are unavailable or otherwise available but on terms that are unsuitable. In these circumstances, issuers may consider an… Continue Reading

Alberta Securities Commission to Introduce Participation Fee Model for Reporting Issuers

By Andrea Kruyne and Garth Foster on October 4, 2016 Posted in Corporate Finance, Securities

On December 1, 2016, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) will be replacing the current fee rule in Alberta with ASC Rule 13-501 Fees (ASC Rule 13-501) which will increase registrant and capital market activity fees, and for the first time in Alberta, will introduce a participation fee model. Any issuers that are currently a reporting… Continue Reading

Canadian Securities Administrators Implement Harmonized Report of Exempt Distribution

By Andrea Kruyne on April 7, 2016 Posted in Corporate Finance, Investment Funds, Public Offering, Securities Regulatory Authorities

On April 7, 2016, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published amendments (Amendments) to the reporting requirements in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions (NI 45-106). The amendments were previously published for public comment on August 13, 2015. Concurrently, the CSA published CSA Staff Notice 45-308 (Revised) Guidance for Preparing and Filing Reports of Exempt Distribution under… Continue Reading

Righting a Wrong: Canadian Regulators Improve the Rights Offering Regime

By Samuel Li and Paul Fornazzari on February 16, 2016 Posted in Corporate Finance, Public Offering, Stock Exchanges

The various Canadian regulatory authorities recently overhauled how prospectus exempt rights offerings are to be conducted going forward, including allowing for larger financings to be completed in a shorter time frame with less extensive offering documents. As a result of these amendments (Amendments) which came into force on December 8, 2015, reporting issuers in Canada… Continue Reading

New Investment Dealer Prospectus Exemption Suitable for Retail Investors

By Barinder Sidhu, Sandra Malcolm, Steve Saville and Sarah Gingrich on February 10, 2016 Posted in Corporate Finance, Public Offering, Stock Exchanges

Retail investors in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick (Participating Jurisdictions) now have a new option by which they can participate in private placements. The securities regulators in the Participating Jurisdictions have adopted a prospectus exemption (Exemption) that allows issuers listed on a Canadian exchange to raise money by distributing securities to retail… Continue Reading

Alberta and Nunavut Propose Exemption for Start-Up Companies

By Sarah Gingrich and Sandra Malcolm on November 13, 2015 Posted in Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Securities

On October 19 2015, the Alberta Securities Commission and the Nunavut Securities Office jointly published for comment Proposed Multilateral Instrument 45-109 Prospectus Exemption for Start-up Businesses (Proposed Exemption). The Proposed Exemption is directed principally at small and early-stage non-reporting issuers and is designed to allow them to raise a defined amount of money in a cost… Continue Reading

OSC Introduces Offering Memorandum Prospectus Exemption

By Glen Yamashita on November 11, 2015 Posted in Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Securities, Securities Regulatory Authorities

In March 2014, certain members of the Canadian Securities Administrators proposed amendments to National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions (NI 45-106) with the aim of allowing business enterprises, with a focus on small and medium size enterprises, to benefit from greater access to capital from investors. On October 29, 2015, the securities authorities in Alberta, New Brunswick,… Continue Reading

Ontario Business Law Panel releases report recommending changes to key corporate and commercial legislation

By Tracy L. Hooey on July 17, 2015 Posted in Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Directors & Officers, Securities Registration & Registrants

In June 2015, a 13-member panel created by the Minister of Government and Consumer Services (Ontario), known as the Business Law Agenda Stakeholder Panel, released “Business Law Agenda: Priority Findings & Recommendations Report”. The panel reviewed corporate and commercial statutes in Ontario and made recommendations encompassing five key themes: establishing a process to keep corporate… Continue Reading

New Proposed Prospectus Exemption for Retail Investors

By Samuel Li on July 17, 2015 Posted in Corporate Finance, Public Offering, Stock Exchanges

On April 16, 2015, the securities regulators in British Columbia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan published for comment Multilateral CSA Notice 45-315 – Proposed Prospectus Exemption for Certain Distributions through an Investment Dealer whereby the regulators proposed a new prospectus exemption that, if approved, would greatly increase the potential private placement investor base for a listed… Continue Reading

Amendments to the TSX Company Manual to Reflect Trends Towards Dematerialization of Physical Evidence of Security Ownership

By Myroslav Chwaluk on June 10, 2015 Posted in Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Stock Exchanges

On May 21, 2015, the TSX announced one set of amendments and one request for comment on proposed amendments to the TSX Company Manual (Manual), both respecting physical certificate requirements for securities. The amendments should not have a noticeable impact for many listed issuers or industry participants, but they do highlight a few trends to… Continue Reading

Certain Canadian Securities Regulators to Adopt Start-Up Crowdfunding Exemptions

By Sébastien Bellefleur and Christian Jacques on May 15, 2015 Posted in Corporate Finance, Crowdfunding, Securities Regulatory Authorities

In recent years, crowdfunding has proven an exceptionally popular and efficient means by which individuals and companies make use of the internet to attract investors for a variety of purposes. The traditional model generally involves a large number of individuals contributing small sums of money to finance specific ideas or projects. Increasingly, however, equity crowdfunding… Continue Reading

Equity Crowdfunding Rules Expected in Summer 2015

By Tracy L. Hooey on February 19, 2015 Posted in Corporate Finance, Crowdfunding, Securities Regulatory Authorities

In a release issued today, the Ontario Securities Commission advised that the participating jurisdictions of the Canadian Securities Administrators are still reviewing the comments received on a proposed crowdfunding regime and an offering memorandum prospectus exemption. In its release, the OSC stated that its goal is to publish proposed rules regarding these matters either in final… Continue Reading

IIROC Publishes Guidance to Underwriters in respect of Due Diligence for Public Offerings

By Jesse Bertollo on January 15, 2015 Posted in Corporate Finance, Securities Regulatory Authorities

Background On December 18, 2014, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) published its final guidance note outlining common due diligence practices and suggestions for IIROC dealer members (Dealer Members) in underwritten public offerings of securities. The guidance note follows IIROC’s March 6, 2014 proposed guidance and a three month public comment period. The… Continue Reading

TSXV Revises Definition of Tier 1 Property

By Daye Kaba and Reid Crombie on July 23, 2014 Posted in Continuous & Timely Disclosure, Corporate Finance, Stock Exchanges

On May 6, 2014, the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) amended the definition of “Tier 1 Property” contained in Policy 1.1 – Interpretation of the TSXV Corporate Finance Manual (TSXV Manual). The TSXV views its Tier 1 as its premier tier reserved for its most advanced issuers with the most significant financial resources. As such, the… Continue Reading

Discretionary Waivers of TSX-V $0.05 Minimum Pricing Requirement

By on April 29, 2014 Posted in Corporate Finance, Securities

On April 7, 2014 the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) published a bulletin entitled Discretionary Waivers of $0.05 Minimum Pricing Requirement, which provides issuers listed on the TSX-V with guidance on the circumstances in which the TSX-V will look more favourably upon an issuer’s request to waive the $0.05 minimum pricing requirement. Generally, the TSX-V is… Continue Reading

Private Placements – Temporary Relief from Certain Pricing Requirements

By on May 1, 2013 Posted in Public Offering, Stock Exchanges

On August 17, 2012 the TSXV published a bulletin entitled Private Placements – Temporary Relief from Certain Pricing Requirements, which provided, on a temporary basis and subject to compliance with the bulletin, the granting of relief to TSXV issuers from certain existing pricing requirements related to private placement financings. These temporary measures were effective as… Continue Reading

Private Placements – Temporary Relief from Certain Pricing Requirements

By on September 24, 2012 Posted in Public Offering, Stock Exchanges