CSA Provides Disclosure Expectations For Reporting Issuers Using Social Media

Summary

On March 9, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) released Staff Notice 51-348 Staff's Review of Social Media Used by Reporting Issuers (the "Staff Notice"), which summarizes staff's findings and disclosure expectations for reporting issuers that use social media.

The CSA reviewed disclosure provided by 111 reporting issuers, including on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and GooglePlus, and information posted by issuers on their own websites (and on message boards or blogs hosted on those websites) in order to assess whether the disclosure complies with the principles outlined in National Policy 51-201 Disclosure Standards ("NP 51-201") and the requirements of National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations.