Update On The Continuing Refinements To Private Placement Rules

Changes continue to be made to the rules concerning private placements in Canada, including changes to some of the most commonly used prospectus exemptions.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have announced two sets of amendments, largely to address investor protection concerns:

• consistent with proposals published last year (as described in our March 4, 2014 update, Proposed Changes to Private Placement Rules), the CSA has refined the rules governing the widely used accredited investor and minimum amount investment exemptions; and
• the CSA has refined the rules concerning exempt distributions of short-term debt, including creating a new exemption for short-term securitized products.