News Release

Calgary - The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced today that National Instrument 41-101 General Prospectus Requirements (NI 41-101) and related amendments will come into force on March 17, 2008. 

NI 41-101 creates a comprehensive and transparent set of national prospectus requirements for all issuers including certain investment funds. 

"NI 41-101 will make it easier for issuers to distribute securities across Canada by establishing one standard set of national prospectus rules," said Jean St-Gelais, Chair of the CSA and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Autorité des marchés financiers (Québec). "The new rule will maintain a high level of disclosure to investors while reducing costs for issuers wishing to offer securities in more than one jurisdiction."

The new rule is based on three general principles:

• Harmonization and consolidation of the general prospectus requirements among Canadian jurisdictions.
  
• Harmonization of the general prospectus requirements with the continuous disclosure and short form prospectus disclosure regimes.
  
• Amendments to the principles underlying the general prospectus requirements identified as a result of regulatory reviews, applications for exemptive relief, or public comment and consultation.

NI 41-101 is coming into force at the same time as Multilateral Instrument 11-102 Passport System and new national policies that streamline Canadian regulatory processes for prospectuses and exemptive relief applications. 

NI 41-101 and related amendments are available on several CSA members' websites.

The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada's provinces and territories, co-ordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.

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