Executive Summary Franchisors, current franchisees and prospective franchisees take notice! There have been a series of changes to the Arthur Wishart Act (Ontario) (the “Act”), Ontario’s franchise legislation. Some of these changes include a broadened definition of “franchise,” which may increase the number of business relationships covered by the Act. As current franchise owners are…
Joint Canadian Securities Administrators/Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada Consultation Paper 21-402: A Summary On March 14, 2019, the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) and Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (“IIROC”) (both CSA and IIROC collectively “the Regulators”) released a consultation paper discussing potential avenues for regulation of digital and crypto assets platforms (the “Paper”)….
Regulatory Treatment of Initial Coin Offerings: Changing Landscape? In November of 2017, we sent out a note on securities regulators’ approach to initial coin offerings. Since that time, there have been developments and increased scrutiny of block-chain based activities. Facts Regarding Cryptoassets (Cryptocurrencies, Digital Tokens, and Other Blockchain Based Assets) On June 28,2018, the Investor…
Spotlight on Syndicated Mortgages Syndicated mortgages are mortgages in which two or more persons participate, directly or indirectly, as lenders in the debt obligation that is secured by the mortgage. Some of these investments fund commercial and large-scale residential real estate developments in their early stages, and projects include condominium, office and retail complexes. According…
Threats and costs of cyber attacks According to PwC’s Global State of Information Security Survey 2016, which collected responses from more than 10,000 executives from 127 countries, the total number of security incidents detected by respondents in 2015 was up 38% compared to 2014. Previous Global State of Information Security Surveys indicate that security incidents…
Federal Legislation The federal government has proposed cannabis legalisation entitled the Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) which would make it legal to produce, use and sell cannabis by July 2018. Once legalized, cannabis will be a controlled substance subject to rules regarding use and distribution. Implementation has, for the most part, been left to the provinces….
Initial Coin Offerings in the Real World “In June, bitcoin news website Coindesk announced that funds raised through ICOs had overcome VC money as the first source of investment in the blockchain sector in 2017. “Tokens” might sound like Monopoly money, but their impact on the real world is growing by the day… Burke[Jamie] has…
On October 19, 2017, the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) teamed up with Corporate Counsel and Davidson & Company LLP, Blender Media, PI Financial, Mackie Research and other great industry experts to help companies in the cannabis go public. Corporate Counsel discussed novel ways to get listed on the CSE. Presentation: Going Public in the Cannabis Sector…
On March 22, 2017, the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) teamed up with Corporate Counsel, OTC Markets, Echelon Wealth Partners and MNP to help issuers find some new ways to raise capital. Corporate Counsel discussed novel ways to raise capital including Rights Offerings, the Offering Memorandum Exemption and Warrant Incentive Programs. Presentation: Ways to Raise Capital Cost-Effectively…
On September 22, 2016, the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) teamed up with Corporate Counsel, Stockhouse and Capital Events to help issuers sharpen the tools in their financing toolkit for capital raising season. Corporate Counsel discussed novel ways to raise capital including Rights Offerings. Check out our presentation below. Click this link to download the presentation:
OSC Participation Fees Were Not Reflective of Current Market Cap On April 1, 2013 a revision to OSC Rule 13-502 came into effect which changed how OSC participation fees for reporting issuers were calculated. These changes included a concept called a “reference fiscal year” which was, in certain cases, deemed to be the participant’s last fiscal…
On October 29, 2015 the Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”) along with other Canadian Securities Administrator (“CSA”) jurisdictions published certain amendments to National Instrument 45-106 – Prospectus Exemptions (“NI 45-106”) allowing Ontario investors to purchase securities by way of offering memorandums. This is a fantastic development for issuers because they can now offer their securities on an exempt basis to a much broader…
