Recent Developments in U.S. Securities Regulation

This is an update on three recent developments in U.S. securities regulation: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s public offering reforms, the New York Stock Exchange’s proposed corporate governance amendments and the SEC’s proposal to allow easier termination of SEC reporting by certain foreign private issuers.

On December 1, 2005, the SEC implemented major changes to the rules on registering and marketing securities in U.S. public offerings. Some of the liberalized rules benefit only well-known, seasoned issuers (WKSIs). These are companies with a one-year SEC reporting history that file Form 20-F or 10-K annual reports and that (a) have a worldwide public float of at least US$700 million, or (b) have sold at least US$1 billion of non-convertible, non-common equity securities in registered offerings over the previous three years.