Initial Board of Directors and New Implementation Timelines Announced for Canada’s Securities Regulatory Regime

In an important step towards implementing Canada’s Cooperative Capital Markets Regime, the participating jurisdictions have made the long awaited announcement of who will serve as the initial Board of Directors for the proposed Capital Markets Regulatory Authority.

As we have previously posted, the appointment of the Board of Directors is a crucial prerequisite to advance the move to the more streamlined capital markets regulatory framework promised by the initiative, now supported by 6 provinces, one territory and the federal government. The announcement reflects the efforts of the initial Nominating Committee appointed by the council of participating Ministers in April 2015, as discussed in our previous post.

As noted in the press release, this group will also serve as the board of directors for the Capital Markets Authority Implementation Organization, which will assist in the transition to and implementation of the Authority. This appointment and assignment will no doubt foster a greater focus for the project, and promote a greater sense of inevitability to the project, shifting its accountability from the group of participants, to the board acting in furtherance of the defined mandate. For these reasons, this is no doubt a welcome development for supporters of the initiative.

The Ministers have also provided an updated implementation timeline, which envisions the enactment of the uniform provincial Capital Markets Act and the complementary federal Capital Markets Stability Act by June 30, 2018 (originally contemplated to be enacted on or before December 31, 2014 ), with the Authority expected to be operational in 2018 (3 years later than originally announced).

The initial Board of Directors will have the following fifteen members. The 5 women/9 men group, in addition to the previously announced chair, consisting of private sector capital markets, legal and public sector expertise, from each region of the country, reflects a broad range of relevant backgrounds and perspectives (their biographies can be found here).

• William Black, chair (Nova Scotia): Former president and chief executive officer of Maritime Life and extensive experience in board governance stemming from his service on numerous boards, including the Bank of Canada
• Andrea Bolger (Ontario): Member of advisory counsel to the Dean of the Ted Rogers School of Business at Ryerson University and former senior executive at Royal Bank of Canada
• Joan Dunne (Alberta): Currently Chairwoman of the Small Company Advisory Group of CPA Canada and an independent director of Sprott Resource Corp. and founder, advisor and former CFO and VP of Finance of Painted Pony Petroleum Ltd.
• Garth Girvan (Ontario): Senior counsel with McCarthy Tetrault, specializing in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and financial institutions regulation.
• Rory Godinho (British Columbia): Partner with Miller Thomson and chair of its Vancouver Capital Markets and Securities Group and former chair of the TSX Venture Exchange’s National Advisory Committee and the BC Local Advisory Committee, as well as an executive of the BC-based Independent Investment Dealers Association.
• Nancy Hopkins (Saskatchewan): Partner with MacDougall Gauley LLP and has been a director on several corporate boards.
• Peter Klohn (New Brunswick): Chair of the Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick and former lawyer for over 25 years and consultant to the Government of New Brunswick.
• Douglas Knight (British Columbia): Co-founder of Deans Knight Capital Management and an early pioneer in Canadian high-yield corporate debt markets and a founding partner of MK Wong and Associates.
• Jill Leversage (British Columbia): Managing Director of Investment Banking at TD Securities Inc. and having more than 25 years of experience in corporate finance and investment banking and having held several board positions.
• Harold MacKay (Saskatchewan): Counsel and former chair with MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP and having held positions on many boards including the Toronto-Dominion Bank.
• John McCoach (British Columbia): President of the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) and having 35 years’ experience in the investment industry.
• Jean-Pierre Ouellet (Quebec): Venture Partner at Capital St-Laurent Inc., Special Advisor at Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. and Vice President at Fonds de Solidarite FTQ and former partner with Stikeman Elliot in Montreal and senior vice-president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Canadian National Railway and vice-chairman of RBC Capital Markets.
• Vicky Sharpe (Ontario): Founder, strategic advisor and former president and CEO of Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
• Eric Tripp (Ontario): Former president of BMO Capital Markets and having served on the boards of the TSX Group, the Toronto Futures Exchange, and the Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation.
• Howard Wetston (Ontario)—Counsel with Goodmans and former Chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission.

We will continue to write about developments in this area.