Canadian securities regulators are eyeing updates to their rules governing issuer communications with beneficial owners who hold securities through intermediaries, including their own version of e-proxy.
The Canadian Securities Administrators are seeking comment on proposed rule changes that, among other things, would allow a new “notice-and-access” model similar to the e-proxy rules in place in the United States. However, unlike the U.S. model, the proposed Canadian version of e-proxy would be voluntary. Canadian reporting issuers would be allowed (but not required) to send investors a notice informing them that their annual proxy-related materials are available online instead of sending them by mail. Web posting of proxy-related materials would only be required only if the issuer chooses to use notice-and-access, and the voting instruction form would be required to be sent with the initial notice.
