Canadian securities regulators seek comment on proposed amendments to business acquisition report requirements

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Sep 05, 2019

On September 5, 2019, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published for comment proposed amendments to the business acquisition report (BAR) requirements for reporting issuers that are not venture issuers. Comments are requested by December 4, 2019.

The proposed amendments aim to reduce regulatory burden and address certain concerns expressed by stakeholders by narrowing the circumstances under which a BAR must be filed.

Currently, a reporting issuer that is not a venture issuer must file a BAR after completing a significant acquisition if any one of the three significance tests set out in National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations (NI 51-102) exceeds 20 per cent.

For reporting issuers that are not venture issuers, the proposed amendments will:

  • alter the determination of significance such that an acquisition of a business or related businesses is significant only if at least two of the three existing significance tests set out in NI 51-102 are triggered; and
  • increase the significance threshold from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Review the press release and Notice on the CSA's website.

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