The government of British Columbia has decided to delay proclamation of its new Securities Act, yet again.

The new principles-based regime was expected to come into effect in mid-November. That implementation date was pushed out to the end of the month. Now, the BCSC says that it will not be adopting the new legislation this year.

The BCSC says that this decision means the current legislation, rules and other instruments will remain in force, and the rules, regulation, fee schedule, forms and guides that it recently published will not come into force this month as expected.

“We acknowledge the significant efforts by many industry participants who have contributed to the development of the legislation and prepared for its implementation. We will work with the government on setting a new target date for implementation,” said BCSC chair, Doug Hyndman, in a notice issued November 18.

Hyndman says that large brokerage firms concerned about the new code of conduct they’d be required to implement, and issuers who have lobbied against establishing civil liability for secondary market disclosure are behind the delay.

“In the meantime, the commission will continue to pursue our goal of making securities regulation more effective and less burdensome while operating under the current legislation,” he says in the notice.