The purpose of this notice is to provide guidance to reporting insiders [FN 1] in relation to the reporting of certain derivative-based transactions, including transactions that are commonly referred to as “equity monetization” transactions.
The staff of the Canadian Securities Administrators have prepared this notice to assist reporting insiders who have entered into such transactions and to promote consistency in filings. The notice contains a number of examples of arrangements and transactions involving derivatives together with examples of how to report these arrangements and transactions. The instructions contained in this notice are guidelines only, and do not necessarily represent the only way that such arrangements and transactions may be reported.
If you have questions or comments with respect to the contents of this notice, please feel free to contact a member of staff. Contact information is included at the end of this notice. This notice is dated June 11, 2010. We may from time to time reissue this notice to reflect frequently asked questions or concerns.
FN 1 Prior to April 30, 2010, Canadian securities legislation generally required all persons and companies who are “insiders” (as defined in securities legislation) to file insider reports unless they had an exemption from the insider reporting requirement. On April 30, 2010, the Canadian Securities Administrators introduced a new insider reporting regime established by NI 55-104. Under NI 55-104, the insider reporting requirement is generally limited to “reporting insiders” (as defined in NI 55-104) and certain persons who may be designated insiders for certain historical transactions (see s. 3.5 of NI 55-104). For convenience, this notice will refer to insiders subject to a reporting requirement as “reporting insiders”.