CANADA: Canadian Securities Regulators will not Implement Proposed Rule for Venture Issuers

Friday July 26 2013

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today announced that they will not pursue implementation of proposed National Instrument 51-103 On-going Governance and Disclosure Requirements for Venture Issuers (NI 51-103).

NI 51-103 was to introduce, among other things, a new tailored regulatory regime for venture issuers that was intended to streamline venture issuer disclosure to reflect the needs and expectations of venture issuer investors. The regime was also intended to make disclosure requirements more suitable and manageable for venture issuers at this stage of their development.

Although market participants supported many aspects of proposed NI 51-103, they raised significant concerns about the burden that transitioning to a new regime and having a mandatory annual report would place on venture issuers. After reviewing the comments received and further consideration, the CSA determined not to pursue implementation of proposed NI 51-103.

The CSA is considering implementing some of the proposals within proposed NI 51-103 as amendments to the existing regulatory regime for venture issuers. Any resulting proposed amendments would be published for comment, as necessary.

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