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 | |
Autorité des marchés financiers | Sylvain Théberge | |
British Columbia Securities Commission | Ken Gracey | |
Financial Services Regulation Division, Newfoundland and Labrador | Doug Connolly | |
Manitoba Securities Commission | Ainsley Cunningham | |
New Brunswick Securities Commission | Wendy Connors-Beckett | |
Nova Scotia Securities Commission | Natalie MacLellan | |
Nunavut Securities Registry | Louis Arki | |
Office of the Attorney General, Prince Edward Island | Marc Gallant | |
Ontario Securities Commission | Laurie Gillett | |
Saskatchewan Financial Services Commission | Barbara Shourounis | |
Securities Office, Northwest Territories | Donn MacDougall | |
Yukon Securities Registry | Fred Pretorius |