Trade war fuels need for national securities regulator

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The CEO of the TMX Group Inc has a list of wishes to improve the capital markets in Canada in response to the trade war threatened by US President Donald Trump.

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At the top of the John Mackenzie menu: Ontario will finally join other provinces to create a national “passport” system to reduce the costs and the regulatory burden of public lists and reach capital markets in the country.

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“As a home to 3000 Canadian exporters, the idea of ​​being able to get rid of commercial and regulatory barriers (which make it difficult to boycott the boycott of the boycott can only be.

The passport system has been created 20 years ago and was designed so that companies must deal with only one of 13 provinces and regional organizations. They will be able to follow a set of coordinated legislative provisions through a national system. There was only one obstacle, but it was great: the Securities Committee of Ontario (OSC), the largest securities organizer in the country.

“If you are a company registered in other parts of the country, you should register in Ontario,” said McKenzi, who spent the first two contracts in TMX in TMX in the company's roles. The effect of the broken regulatory system on many companies.

He said that the smaller and directed companies towards growth reaches the most difficult. The time devoted to an additional layer of organization is costly for them due to the high fees for paperwork and legal advice and because the time of the administration is withdrawn away from the company's basic operations.

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“This is a great burden and complexity in terms of building your work,” he said.

You have to hit while the iron is hot

John McKenzi

McKenzi's wish list extends beyond securities regulation. He said that he hoped that politicians and organizers will use the threat of customs tariffs as an opportunity to calm the differences in the province and accelerate various operations, from mining approvals to energy regulation, helping companies to reduce costs, increase money and increase their ability to grow to patriots.

“How can we create the next Shopify and not just many small companies? He said,” What we do here will be positive, “adding that the fastest declaration of the number of mining companies in Canada will be a good start that will improve their access to money.

He said: “We have the slowest specialty to allow the world, so that we can accelerate the raising of the capital if people know … that they can actually get things.” “Then in the power area, it's not just allowing, but in reality it is certain whether you can agree at all.”

McKenzi said that the uncertainty in obtaining the project approvals in all provinces affected the financing of the energy sector, which fell on Canadian public markets to $ 1.8 billion in 2024 from about 20 billion dollars a decade ago.

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He said: “When there is no certainty that you can actually implement a project, people will not finance it.”

Something like Ontario, which joins other regional and regional securities in the passport system, may seem relatively simple compared to other elements in the Mackenzie Anti -Wishes list, but there is a complex past.

In 2004, OSC officials rejected the passport system, and instead they chose to follow efforts to create a general system of Candy that would solve all regional shifts and replace them with one national organizer.

In December 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected this plan, saying that the provinces, not Ottawa, have the jurisdiction of the regulation of securities.

Instead of signing the passport system, Ontario presented another alternative plan: a cooperative regulator based on voluntary participation. He received support from some provinces, but also, he appeared at the national level and faded.

These efforts were always widespread due to the expectations of some and the fear of others that OSC individuals and practices will be the driving force. Alberta and Kebbek were the most vocal opponents, indicating that the unique characteristics of their areas will be ignored if a national organization replaced with a passport system.

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But Larry Richie, a partner in the law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcort LLB, who spent seven years in the position of Vice President of OSC and was re -advised about the establishment of a national organizer. To reconsider the Canadian general model.

He said: “The recent events show that there are risks to Canada's ability to respond closely to the new and advanced challenges due to retail in both the commercial and financial organization.”

He said that Ontario joining the passport system could “move the needle” if it is also expanded beyond the mutual acceptance of activities such as providing the issuance bulletin and obtaining exemptions. But what is really required is that governments recognize commercial threat as a moment to realize that the opportunity of capital and risk exceeds the boundaries of the provinces.

“R.The failure of the cooperative model was essentially a lack of political will. “The transition to removing or reducing commercial barriers between provinces must be accompanied by an attempt similar to reducing organizational duplication and the necessary interference to make Canada more competitive at the international level,” he said.

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“This does not have to be a return to the same experience that has been tried and failed, but in some way, the number of multiple organizers and overlapping and repeated regulations must be followed up.”

David Hausman, a partner at the faskeen Martineau dumoulin llp, said commercial threats to a greater focus on the role of securities in forming capital, which drives the creation of jobs and innovation.

He said: “It seems that Canada has been thirsty in capital in everything except for investments in real estate, which does not enhance innovation or create jobs in the long term,” adding that changing dynamics will seem a balanced work of competing goals.

He said: “One of them is the temptation of promising institutions by choosing to follow public markets for private shares and the other is to attract foreign investment through better and more difficult and transparent enforcement and governance of the strongest companies.”

Glenn Johnson, a partner at the Torys LLP law company that focuses on the regulation of securities and capital markets, said smaller moves such as OSC joining the passport system can eliminate some administrative and procedural interruptions throughout the country.

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But he described it as a “symbolic step” often at a time when the turbulence of the Trump administration threatened to address Canada wider issues, including the competitiveness of its markets.

“We want Canadian companies to enjoy the capital in Canada and grow here instead of leaving the south because they imagine (obtaining) any better opportunities, or less costs or more favorable securities – or other organizational framework to move forward, he said.

The CEO of TMX said that the coming weeks and months offer a “absolute window” to politicians and authorities to address unnecessary costs and burdens for Canadian companies and make the country's markets more efficient.

He said: “You have to hit while iron is hot.”

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