OSC publishes corporate finance branch report

The OSC has published its corporate finance branch report for 2017-18.

The report serves as a tool to support issuers and their advisors in meeting their disclosure obligations under Ontario securities law, says a release.

The report also looks at evolving areas in global capital markets to determine if new regulations, amendments or guidance are required.

In the report, these areas include the increasing use of non-GAAP financial measures in reporting, exempt distribution reporting, foreign issuer resale exemptions, climate change–related disclosures, syndicated mortgages and women on boards and in executive officer positions.

For example, on the use of non-GAAP measures, the report says that the OSC may take regulatory action if an issuer discloses information considered misleading, and it offers disclosure expectations and available guidance. Concerning women on boards, the report says the OSC is considering “strengthening” its comply-or-explain disclosure model.

Within compliance, the report focuses on continuous disclosure, offerings, market exemptions and insider reporting, and provides guidance on current trends and issues to assist issuers.

In the report’s opening message, Huston Loke, director of corporate finance at the OSC, says that reducing the regulatory burden for reporting issuers is an area of ongoing focus. “We are considering clarifying and streamlining certain disclosure obligations, reducing overlap and enhancing electronic document distribution for investors,” he says in the release.

The report also identifies some potentially misleading disclosures, which resulted in issuers having to file clarifying news releases or refile continuous disclosure documents.

Given that issuers and issues reviewed vary each year, no meaningful comparisons or discernible trends were identified, says the release.

Read the full report from the OSC’s corporate finance branch.

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The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.