Criminal Law 

The federal government today released a draft securities act filed in support of its constitutional reference to regulate capital markets activity.  The draft act is largely based on provincial securities legislation: for example, the provisions relating to disclosure of information, prospectus offerings and the public interest power remain generally the same.  However, the act contains a number of new provisions which together appear to be improvements over existing law.

To begin, the act contains a new purposes section. In addition to protecting investors and fostering fair, efficient and competitive capital markets, the new Canadian Securities Regulatory Authority must contribute “to the integrity and stability of the financial system”.  Expanding the purposes section in this way is sound. The financial meltdown demonstrated that systemic risks can arise from increasingly complex products (such as derivatives) and highly leveraged institutions (such as hedge funds) that distribute these products. Contributing to the stability of the financial system is thus a pertinent goal of securities regulation.