The Co-operative Capital Markets Regulator (CCMR) will not launch this year, as planned, the governments backing the initiative announced in a document published last week.
When the CCMR proposal was initially floated, the plan was to launch the new regulator by July 1, 2015. Since then, the effort has been delayed repeatedly, and the roster of participating governments has grown from those in the initial agreement, British Columbia, Ontario and the feds, to also include Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon.
On March 22, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) held a hearing to review the constitutionality of certain aspects of the planned regime, and a decision from the court will likely take several months.
In light of that process, the of governments of B.C., New Brunswick, Ontario, P.E.I., Saskatchewan and Yukon said in a statement: “At this stage, the Co-operative System will not be ready for launch by the end of 2018.
“When a decision is made,” the statement adds, “the participating governments will respect this decision and proceed accordingly.”
Depending on the SCC’s ruling, the governments will update the timing of the new regulator’s launch.
“The objective is to proceed in a manner that provides certainty to all involved and to take the time necessary to provide a smooth transition for market participants,” the governments stated.
Along with announcing the delay, the governments published proposed rules for the new regime, setting out how prospectus and registration exemptions would work under the CCMR.
This element of the proposed rules had not been published before. The rules are out for comment until August 7.
Additionally, the governments stated they plan to publish further proposals on exemptions, along with proposals regarding transitional issues and fees under the new regime.