The Saskatchewan Financial Services Commission reports that the Securities Amendment Act 2006 was given first reading in its legislative assembly on November 6.

The Act includes amendments that will facilitate harmonization of requirements and processes with those in other Canadian jurisdictions. It also includes measures to implement the passport system. The bill includes amendments that refine the passport provisions to include the ability of the commission to incorporate decisions of another regulator by operation of law; it also includes provisions that implement a “modified discretion” mechanism that would permit the commission to make a decision solely based on a similar decision by another securities commission.

A new section regarding civil liability for secondary market disclosure contains provisions that make reporting issuers civilly liable to investors and the secondary market for misrepresentations in their continuous disclosure, subject to reasonable limitations.

A number of enforcement and administrative provisions have been amended and updated to make them consistent with similar provisions in other jurisdictions. This includes increasing maximum penalties to $5 million and a term of imprisonment of up to five years.

The bill also includes the repeal of provisions in the Act relating to registration, prospectuses, insider reporting and take-over and issuer bids. These provisions will be replaced by national instruments that will contain uniform provisions in the area.

The bill contains a number of housekeeping amendments too, including: a new section that deems certain persons and companies to be insiders of income trusts; amendments regarding appeals from decisions of the commission to the Court of Appeal; and, a new section regarding delegation of functions by the commission to an SRO.

Finally, the provisions which require mineral lease brokers to be registered, are repealed. Mineral lease brokers are agents who acquire oil and gas interests. Saskatchewan is the only jurisdiction that regulates mineral lease brokers under securities legislation. “There have been no enforcement issues related to the activities of mineral lease brokers. Owners of mineral interests are more knowledgeable and have better access to information than when the provisions first came into force,” it explains. “The public interest no longer requires that mineral lease brokers be regulated.”