Quebec’s legislature has passed a bill beefing up civil liability for secondary market disclosure, among other measures.

Monique Jerome-Forget, minister of finance, announced that the National Assembly has passed Bill 19, implementing a new civil remedy in Quebec specific to the secondary market for securities. “This recourse will make it easier for an investor to sue for damages where an issuer publishes false or misleading information or fails to disclose a material change, because the investor will no longer have to prove a cause-and-effect relationship between his loss and the distribution of such information,” Jerome-Forget stated.

“We believe that the introduction of this recourse will give Quebec investors a new tool for defending their interests and at the same time will prompt the industry to work harder to comply with continuous disclosure requirements, which are central to the regulatory system of markets,” she added.

Bill 19 also introduces an amendment to the Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services to enable the Autorite des marches financiers to suspend the certificate of a representative who fails to satisfy continuous training requirements. “Continuous training is essential to maintaining skills and any breach of this obligation must be sanctioned quickly to serve the investor better,” Jerome-Forget stated.