On January 21, 2019, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled in O’Leary Funds Management c. Boralex Inc., 2019 QCCA 84, that dissident rights under business corporations acts do not apply to trusts. Unitholders of a trust must therefore ensure
From boom to busted: TMF deems PlexCoins as investment contracts
By Admin on
The legal noose is tightening around the necks of rogue cryptocurrency issuers in Quebec. PlexCorps’s legal troubles, as covered in our previous post, have deepened.
In Autorité des marchés financiers c. PlexCorps, 2018 QCTMF 91, the Tribunal des…
OSC Continues Mediation Program on a Permanent Basis
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On April 9, 2018, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced that its Mediation Program, which began as a pilot program in May 2015, will be continuing on a permanent basis.
The Mediation Program provides respondents represented by counsel,…
Civil Forfeiture in the Securities Context
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Administrative fines are are regularly imposed by the Ontario Securities Commission (the OSC) in enforcement proceedings as sanctions for violations of Ontario securities law. Less well-known, but equally important, is the ability of the OSC to require wrongdoers to…
Certainty or Flexibility? Changing the Approach to Director and Audit Committee Member Independence
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The Canadian Securities Administrators (the CSA) is seeking comments on its consultation paper: CSA Consultation Paper 52-404 Approach to Director and Audit Committee Member Independence (the Consultation Paper). The Consultation Paper intends to facilitate a discussion on the…
Supreme Court Denies Leave to Applicants Seeking to Challenge Bifurcation of OSC Proceedings
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The Supreme Court of Canada recently denied leave to appeal the Court of Appeal for Ontario’s decision in Ontario Securities Commission v. MRS Sciences Inc. (MRI Sciences), which considered the bifurcated nature of proceedings before the Ontario…
A Cautionary Tale for Defendants Opposing Certification
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Perhaps in tongue and cheek, perhaps not, Perell J. begins his decision in Berg v. Canadian Hockey League, 2017 ONSC 5382, by quoting Winston Churchill’s famous World War II speech :
We shall defend our island, whatever the
…
Mitigating Securities Litigation Risk From Software Problems
By Admin & Peter A. Stokes on
Public companies can face significant securities litigation risk over defective algorithms, data errors and software glitches. As securities class action filings continue to increase across the board, plaintiffs lawyers have attacked numerous companies over stock price declines that occur after…
OSC Sanctions Respondents in Strictrade Scheme
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In Strictrade Marketing Inc. et al., 2017 ONSEC 12, the Ontario Securities Commission (the Commission) delivered robust sanctions to Respondents found to have marketed and sold licenses for trading software in breach of the Ontario Securities Act (the…
The OSC Explores the Elimination of Embedded Commissions
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The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) hosted a roundtable discussion on September 18, 2017 (the Roundtable Discussion) to help evaluate potential regulatory changes to discontinue embedded commissions in investment funds. The term “embedded commission” refers to the remuneration…