June 29, 2017 CSA Securities

Montréal – The Canadian Securities Administrators  (CSA) today published for comment proposed amendments to National Instrument 45-102 Resale of Securities (NI 45-102) that would introduce a new prospectus exemption for the resale of securities of a foreign issuer.

"The proposed amendments would facilitate access to global markets," said Louis Morisset, CSA Chair and President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers. "Canadian investors are increasingly investing abroad, and we understand that some aspects of the current resale regime may pose challenges to participation in prospectus-exempt offerings by foreign issuers."

If adopted, the proposed exemption would allow Canadian investors to resell, outside of Canada, securities of a foreign issuer acquired under a prospectus exemption where the issuer is not a reporting issuer in any jurisdiction of Canada. The proposed amendments suggest a different approach for determining minimal connection to Canada by introducing a definition of foreign issuer to replace the current 10 per cent Canadian ownership test.

With the increased globalization of capital markets, it may no longer be appropriate to determine minimal connection to Canada based solely on Canadian security holdings. The CSA believes that the proposed exemption would be more straightforward and effective in today's global market.

The proposed amendments and CSA Notice and Request for comment can be found on the websites of CSA members. Comments should be submitted in writing by September 27, 2017.

The CSA, the council of securities regulators of Canada's provinces and territories, coordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.

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