Canadian Securities Regulators Emphasize Disclosure Obligations for Current Market Conditions

CSA Securities

Toronto – The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published today CSA Staff Notice 51-328 to assist reporting issuers in preparing their financial statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) in the current market environment.

The notice highlights some specific areas for which clear disclosure will be important to help investors understand the risks and circumstances facing issuers. It outlines areas for consideration, including financial instruments, going concern, impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets, and discusses additional considerations for junior resource companies.

The current economic uncertainty and financial market volatility make it especially important for an issuer to clearly disclose the present and anticipated impacts of market conditions on its operations, financial condition, liquidity and future prospects.

Receiving information necessary to understand an issuer’s current and prospective financial position and its operating results is critical for investors. Therefore, MD&A disclosure should be sufficiently detailed and avoid boilerplate statements. The areas discussed in the notice are not new requirements and should not be considered an exhaustive list. Rather, they are intended to provide guidance to issuers.

The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada’s provinces and territories, co-ordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.

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For more information:

CSA member name

Point of contact

Phone number

Alberta Securities Commission

Mark Dickey

403 297-4481

Autorité des marchés financiers

Sylvain Théberge

514 940-2176

British Columbia Securities Commission

Ken Gracey

604 899-6577

Financial Services Regulation Division, Newfoundland and Labrador

Doug Connolly

709 729-2594

Manitoba Securities Commission

Ainsley Cunningham

204 945-4733

New Brunswick Securities Commission

Wendy Connors-Beckett

506 643-7745

Nova Scotia Securities Commission

Natalie MacLellan

902 424-8586

Nunavut Securities Registry

Louis Arki

867 975-6587

Office of the Attorney General, Prince Edward Island

Marc Gallant

902 368-4552

Ontario Securities Commission

Laurie Gillett

416 595-8913

Saskatchewan Financial Services Commission

Barbara Shourounis

306 787-5842

Securities Office, Northwest Territories

Donn MacDougall

867 920-8984

Yukon Securities Registry

Fred Pretorius

867 667-5225