NIN 94/24 - Part XIII of the Regulation to the Securities Act (Ontario) Conflicts of Interest: Related and Connected Issuers [NIN - Rescinded]

A Request for Comments and Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC") staff discussion paper regarding the conflicts of interest regime set out in Part XIII of the Regulation to the Securities Act (Ontario) and the equivalent provisions in the legislation of Alberta, British Columbia, Québec and Nova Scotia is published in the OSC Bulletin and the Alberta Securities Commission Summary. It will also be available for distribution at the offices of the securities administrators in British Columbia and Québec. The discussion paper provides background regarding this conflicts regime and alternative instruments which are available for the regulation of such conflicts.

Because of the number of issues that a detailed review of the conflict regime encompasses, OSC staff expects that once an overall policy direction is established, individual concerns will be addressed in sequence, with more pressing problems being given priority. As the Part XIII rule which has given rise to the greatest number of comments and applications since the imposition of Part XIII in 1987 relates to underwriting, those issues will be addressed first.

The deadline for responses to the Request for Comments is January 31, 1995.

As part of the consultative process, the Canadian Securities Administrators ("CSA") has established a committee to make recommendations regarding conflicts of interest arising out of the deregulation of the ownership rules in the securities industry. The first topic to be addressed by the committee will be the provisions applicable to underwriting conflicts of interest. This committee will be chaired by a representative of the CSA and be made up of CSA representatives and senior representatives from various market participant groups. The CSA will publish the list of committee members once the membership has been finalized.

The committee's initial report is expected to be published by the end of February, 1995. Staff expects to have formulated specific proposals for reform of Part XIII prior to the spring meeting of the CSA (in April, 1995).

Any questions regarding the Request for Comments may be addressed to:

Tanis MacLaren
Deputy Director,
Capital markets/International Markets
Ontario Securities Commission
20 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 3S8

Phone: (416) 593-8259
Fax: (416) 593-8283

A limited number of copies of the discussion paper are available for pick up, upon request. Requests should be directed to:

Shandie Hertslet
Information Distribution Officer
British Columbia Securities Commission
1100 - 865 Hornby Street
Vancouver, B.C.
V6Z 2H4
Phone: (604) 660-4844
Fax: (604) 660-2688