Tag archives: securities

Successful Mini-Tenders

While controversial, mini-tenders are permitted in the Canadian markets. This blog provides a brief overview of mini-tenders and summarizes two recent examples, which demonstrate the considerations surrounding whether or not a mini-tender will succeed. What is a mini-tender? A mini-tender is an unsolicited and widely disseminated offer to purchase less than 20% of the outstanding … Continue reading

The SPAC is back: going public in a pandemic

According to Axios, the first half of 2020 saw special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs” for short) in the U.S. raise over US$20 billion, easily eclipsing the US$13.3 billion raised in all of 2019. A SPAC is a special purpose vehicle that does not have any assets or operations, but exists solely for the purpose of … Continue reading

Competition Bureau Issues Additional Guidance on Competitor Collaboration During COVID-19 Pandemic

Canadian businesses continue to face unprecedented challenges in light of the rapid spread of COVID-19. On March 20, the commissioner of competition provided some guidance for industry on the continuing application of the Competition Act to competitor collaborations, which we summarized in a recent bulletin. In short, the statement indicated that the Competition Bureau’s pre-existing … Continue reading

Regulators comment on securities law implications for offerings of tokens

On June 11, 2018, the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) published Staff Notice 46-308 Securities Law Implications for Offerings of Tokens (“Notice”). The Notice follows from the CSA’s previous guidance in Staff Notice 46-307 Cryptocurrency Offerings, where the CSA explained that many cryptocurrency offerings involve the distribution of securities and are therefore subject to securities laws … Continue reading

Due diligence defence for distribution of securities in breach of securities law

In furtherance of a proposed merger or acquisition, it is common place for an issuer to complete a concurrent private placement in order to, among other things, fund its working capital and current operations, complete the transaction or satisfy regulatory or administrative requirements post-transaction i.e., exchange listing requirements upon completion of a reverse-take over. Notwithstanding … Continue reading

New reporting obligation for transactions affecting tax basis of securities

As a result of new US reporting rules that came into effect on January 1, 2011, Canadian public and private issuers may be subject to a significant information reporting obligation when undertaking one of a wide range of transactions. The new rules are intended to increase compliance in reporting capital gains and losses for US … Continue reading
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