Comments requested for CCMR draft regulations

The five provinces and one territory committed to the development of the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System have published for comment a draft prospectus and related registration exemption regulations under the proposed provincial-territorial Capital Markets Act (CMA).

The participating provinces and territory are British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Yukon.

Read: Is regulatory uncertainty the new norm for Ontario?

A backgrounder document to the draft regulation says the cooperative system won’t be ready to launch this year, as the Supreme Court of Canada is considering the constitutionality of the system’s elements. The appeal was heard by the Supreme Court on March 22, 2018.

“When a decision is made, the participating governments will respect this decision and proceed accordingly,” says the backgrounder.

When in force, the CMA and initial regulations would constitute the single set of substantive provincial and territorial capital market laws under the cooperative system.

The draft regulations being published for consultation are a possible single set of prospectus and related registration exemptions that would apply in participating provinces and territories on launch of the cooperative system. These exemption regulations weren’t part of draft initial regulations published for comment in August 2015.

The comment period goes to Aug. 7.

Participants also plan to publish for comment a draft prospectus exemption for certain distributions made through investment dealers. And they’re considering additional regulations on a registration exemption for certain financial institutions, as well as transitional matters and fees under the CMA and the federal Capital Markets Stability Act (CMSA).

Consultations on these items are expected in advance of the Capital Markets Regulatory Authority’s launch.

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