CBCA corporations will soon have to establish a securities
register detailing all individuals with significant control over
the corporation. The new regulations under Bill C-86 Budget
Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 become effective on June 13,
2019. Existing record-keeping obligations under the CBCA pertain to
registered shareholders only—those named on the
corporation’s share certificates, who are often
intermediaries holding shares on behalf of beneficial shareholders.
The new share register requirements pertain to all individual
shareholders, registered or beneficial, who have significant
control, direct or indirect, over the corporation.
The CBCA rules will not apply to non-CBCA corporations. However,
provincial and territorial finance ministers have agreed to follow
the federal lead in this area, although the timing of them doing so
is uncertain. Underlying the CBCA reforms, and similar reforms in
the European Union and the United Kingdom, is lawmakers’
desire
