News Releases
Canadian Securities Regulators Adopt Amendments To Improve Issuer Communications with Investors
Nov 29, 2012
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced today the adoption of amendments to National Instrument 54-101 Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer and National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations, which intend to improve communications between reporting issuers and their shareholders in the proxy voting process.
Specifically, the amendments are designed to improve procedures for reporting issuer communications with investors who hold securities through intermediaries such as dealers, trust companies and banks.
The most significant features of the adopted amendments include:
- Providing reporting issuers with a new notice-and-access mechanism to send proxy-related materials to registered holders and beneficial owners of securities;
- Requiring reporting issuers to provide enhanced disclosure regarding the beneficial owner voting process; and,
- Simplifying the process by which beneficial owners are appointed as proxy holders in order to attend and vote at shareholder meetings.
“These amendments will modernize and enhance communication between reporting issuers and their shareholders by allowing greater use of the Internet for delivering proxy-related materials,” said Bill Rice, Chair of the CSA and chairman and chief executive of the Alberta Securities Commission. “The amendments aim to increase the efficiencies of the proxy voting process by reducing the volume of documents sent to shareholders.”
The amendments and related materials can be found on CSA members’ websites. In some jurisdictions, ministerial approvals are required to implement the amendments. If all such approvals are obtained, the amendments will take effect on February 11, 2013. However, reporting issuers will only be permitted to use notice-and-access for meetings taking place on or after March 1, 2013.
The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada’s provinces and territories, coordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.
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| Carolyn Shaw-Rimmington Ontario Securities Commission 416-593-2361 |
Mark Dickey Alberta Securities Commission 403-297-4481 |
| Sylvain Théberge Autorité des marchés financiers 514-940-2176 |
Richard Gilhooley British Columbia Securities Commission 604-899-6713 |
| Ainsley Cunningham Manitoba Securities Commission 204-945-4733 |
Wendy Connors-Beckett New Brunswick Securities Commission 506-643-7745 |
| Tanya Wiltshire Nova Scotia Securities Commission 902-424-8586 |
Dean Murrison Saskatchewan Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority 306-787-5879 |
| Janice Callbeck PEI Securities Office Office of the Attorney General 902-368-6288 |
Doug Connolly Financial Services Regulation Div. Newfoundland and Labrador 709-729-2594 |
| Rhonda Horte Office of Yukon Superintendent of Securities 867-667-5466 |
Louis Arki Nunavut Securities Office 867-975-6587 |
| Donn MacDougall Northwest Territories Securities Office 867-920-8984 |