Forward-Looking Information: New Rules Published For Public Comment

Originally published in Canadian Securities Law News, January 2007.

Since the mid-90s, there has been regulatory uncertainty over Complaints National Policy Statement No. 48 (NP48), which guides the use of future-oriented financial information (FOFI) in offering documents, restricts the use of projections and requires an auditors’ report and compliance with section 4250 of the Handbook of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. Canadian securities regulators have proposed new rules that cover all forward-looking information, which includes FOFI and a new category of forward-looking information called ‘‘financial outlook’’ (which itself includes earnings guidance). In general, the regulators propose to