Outside Activities 2.0: Potential Burden Reduction Comes to Reporting of Registrant Information

On February 4, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) released a number of proposed changes to certain initial and ongoing regulatory reporting requirements for registrants. The CSA is inviting comments on these proposals by May 5. Some of the highlights of these proposed changes are:

  1. Outside Business Activities

As you know, registrants are currently required to report and update (within 10 days) all Outside Business Activities on their personal disclosure form (Form 33-109F4). The proposed changes seek to:

  • Provide much clearer definition of what an “Outside Business Activity” is. This includes dropping the term “Business” from “Outside Business Activity” to further make clear that a reportable activity includes more than just a compensated position.
  • Provide a fairly comprehensive set of evaluation criteria to assist a registrant in determining what is reportable to regulators and what is not. Some examples discussed include clarifications that activities like being a community hockey coach or being a director in a non-active holding company is typically not reportable.
  • Extend the reporting deadlines.
  1. General Deadline Extensions

In addition to extending the reporting deadline for “Outside Activities” from 10 to 30 days, other areas of disclosure have also received extended reporting deadlines. The proposed new deadlines are generally listed as follows:

Relevant Sections of Your Firm Registration Form (Form 33-109F6) Deadline Relevant Sections of Your Personal  Registration Form (Form 33-109F4) Deadline
  • General Registration Information
  • Agent and Address for Service
  • Contact Information
  • Registration History
  • Financial Condition
  • Client Relationships
  • Regulatory Action and Legal Action
 15 Days (previously 10 days)
  • Name, Address, Citizenship
  • Registration Jurisdictions
  • Individual Categories
  • Address for Service
  • Proficiency
  • Location of Employment
  • Terminations
  • Regulatory Disclosure
  • Criminal Disclosure
  • Civil Disclosure
  • Financial Disclosure
  • Ownership of Securities
 15 Days (previously 10 days)
  • Business History
  • Securities Registration
  • Auditor
  • Client Assets
  • Conflicts of Interest
 30 Days (previously 10 days)
  • Residential Address
  • Mailing Address
  • Reportable Activities
  • Previous Employment
 30 Days (previously 10 days)

The above is just a high-level summary of the proposed changes. If you have additional questions about the above, please contact your usual lawyer at AUM Law to discuss.

February 26, 2021