CSA proposes electronic filing on SEDAR

The Canadian Securities Administrators has published proposed amendments to National Instrument 13-101 System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR), and to Multilateral Instrument 13-102 System Fees for SEDAR and NRD.

The 60-day comment period on these proposals ends on August 31, 2015. CSA notes both Ontario and British Columbia aren’t participating in the proposed amendments because they already have local systems in place to receive exempt market filings electronically.

Read: OSC makes electronic filing mandatory

In other provinces, however, the proposed amendments would require certain exempt market filings (which are currently filed in paper format) to be filed in electronic format on SEDAR. These filings include the report of exempt distribution and the offering memorandum.

The proposed amendments would also require issuers to pay a system fee of $25 per filing of a report of exempt distribution.

CSA says electronic filing on SEDAR will benefit issuers by:

• enabling issuers to make filings in multiple jurisdictions through one electronic submission;
• allowing reporting issuers as well as non-reporting issuers to have their filings with the participating jurisdictions in one electronic location under a SEDAR profile; and
• allowing issuers to verify the accuracy and completeness of their filing record without having to make an information request to the applicable jurisdiction.

“The goal of these amendments is to improve the efficiency of the current system,” says said Louis Morisset, CSA chair, and president and CEO of the AMF. “Enabling electronic filings will benefit issuers who submit thousands of exempt market filings in paper format each year. It will also increase regulators’ ability to analyze the documents.”

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