On January 22, 2021, the Ministry of Finance in Ontario, Canada,
released the final report of the "Capital Markets
Modernization Taskforce" (the "Taskforce"). The
Taskforce, set up by the Ontario Government in February 2020, had
been tasked with the project of conducting a comprehensive review
of Ontario's capital markets regulatory framework in order to
provide advice and recommendations to the Minister of Finance for
further action.
Of particular importance were the recommendations made by the
Taskforce with respect to the regulation of climate change related
issuer disclosure matters. Following the lead of securities
regulators, market regulatory commentators and leading financial
fund managers around the world, the Taskforce acknowledged
the need to standardize public company disclosure requirements
pertaining to climate change related risk. Ontario public companies
are currently required to exercise their own judgement in
determining the nature and extent of
