Search Results for “Threshold for early warning reporting in Canada?”

Q: Threshold for early warning reporting in Canada?

A: In Canada, the threshold for early warning reporting is when an acquiror acquires beneficial ownership of, or control or direction over, voting or equity securities of any class of a reporting issuer, or securities convertible into voting or equity securities of any class of a reporting issuer, that, together with the acquiror's securities of that class, constitute 10% or more of the outstanding securities of that class. The acquiror must promptly issue and file a news release and file a report as per the requirements outlined in National Instrument 62-104 Takeover Bids and Issuer Bids, Part 5, Section 5.2.

National Instrument 62-104 Takeover Bids and Issuer Bids

Part 5 Reports and Announcements Of Acquisitions

Section 5.2

Early warning

(1) An acquiror who acquires beneficial ownership of, or control or direction over, voting or equity securities of any class of a reporting issuer, or securities convertible into voting or equity securities of any class of a reporting issuer, that, together with the acquiror’s securities of that class, constitute 10% or more of the outstanding securities of that class, must

(a) promptly, and, in any event, no later than the opening of trading on the business day following the acquisition, issue and file a news release containing the information required by section 3.1 of National Instrument 62-103 The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues, and

(b) promptly, and, in any event, no later than 2 business days from the date of the acquisition, file a report containing the information required by section 3.1 of National Instrument 62-103 The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues.

(2) An acquiror who is required to make disclosure under subsection (1) must make further disclosure, in accordance with subsection (1), each time any of the following events occur:

(a) the acquiror or any person acting jointly or in concert with the acquiror, acquires or disposes beneficial ownership of, or acquires or ceases to have control or direction over, either of the following:

(i) securities in an amount equal to 2% or more of the outstanding securities of the class of securities that was the subject of the most recent report required to be filed by the acquiror under subsection (1) or under this subsection;

(ii) securities convertible into 2% or more of the outstanding securities referred to in subparagraph (i);

(b) there is a change in a material fact contained in the most recent report required to be filed under paragraph (1)(b) or under paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(3) An acquiror must issue and file a news release and file a report in accordance with subsection (1) if beneficial ownership of, or control or direction over, the outstanding securities of the class of securities that was the subject of the most recent report required to be filed by the acquiror under this section decreases to less than 10%.

(4) If an acquiror issues and files a news release and files a report under subsection (3), the requirements under subsection (2) do not apply unless subsection (1) applies in respect of a subsequent acquisition of beneficial ownership of, or control or direction over, voting or equity securities of any class of a reporting issuer, or securities convertible into voting or equity securities of any class of a reporting issuer, that, together with the acquiror’s securities of that class, constitute 10% or more of the outstanding securities of that class.

Exemptive Relief Orders

National Instrument 62-103 The Early Warning System and Related Takeover Bid and Insider Reporting Issues

Part 9 Insider Reporting Exemption

Section 9.1

Insider Reporting Exemption; Early Warning Decrease Reports

(1) Subject to subsections (3.1) and (4), an eligible institutional investor is exempt from the insider reporting requirement for a reporting issuer if

(a) the eligible institutional investor has filed the report required under the early warning requirements or Part 4 for the reporting issuer in connection with the current securityholding percentage of the eligible institutional investor in the classes of voting and equity securities of the reporting issuer;

(a.1) the report referred to in paragraph (a) discloses, in addition to any other required disclosure,

(i) the eligible institutional investor’s interest in any related financial instrument involving a security of the reporting issuer that is not otherwise reflected in the current securityholding percentage of the eligible institutional investor; and

(ii) the material terms of the related financial instrument;

(b) the eligible institutional investor is not disqualified under section 4.2 from filing reports under Part 4;

(c) the eligible institutional investor does not have knowledge of any material fact or material change with respect to the reporting issuer that has not been generally disclosed;

(d) the eligible institutional investor does not receive in the ordinary course of its business and investment activities knowledge of any material fact or material change with respect to the reporting issuer that has not been generally disclosed;

(e) there are no directors or officers of the reporting issuer who were, or could reasonably be seen to have been, selected, nominated or designated by the eligible institutional investor or any joint actor; and

(f) the eligible institutional investor, either alone or together with any joint actors, does not possess effective control of the reporting issuer.

(2) An eligible institutional investor relying on the exemption in subsection (1) shall maintain records that include the information that, absent this section, would have been required to be included in a report filed under the insider reporting requirement.

(3.1) Despite subsection (1), an eligible institutional investor that is filing reports under the early warning requirements or Part 4 for a reporting issuer may rely upon the exemption contained in subsection (1) only if the eligible institutional investor treats a significant change in a related financial instrument position as a change in a material fact for the purposes of securities legislation pertaining to the early warning requirements or section 4.6 of this Instrument.

(4) Despite subsection (1), an eligible institutional investor that is an insider of a reporting issuer may not rely upon the exemption contained in subsection (1) if

(a) the eligible institutional investor, either alone or with a joint actor or joint actors, purchased in the previous month, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more of all of the securities of a class that were reported sold on stock exchanges, over-the-counter markets or both in the previous month; or

(b) the eligible institutional investor, either alone or with a joint actor or joint actors, sold in the previous month, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more of all of the securities of a class that were reported sold on stock exchanges, over-the-counter markets or both in the previous month.

(5) If an eligible institutional investor is exempt under subsection (1) from the insider reporting requirement for a reporting issuer, every director or senior officer of the eligible institutional investor who is an insider of the reporting issuer solely as a result of being director or senior officer of the eligible institutional investor is exempt from the insider reporting requirement for the reporting issuer.