Canadian Securities Regulators Grant Exemptions from Wrapper Requirements for Foreign Offerings

On April 23, 2013, Canadian securities regulators agreed to allow certain dealers selling securities of foreign issuers to make private placement offerings to permitted clients in Canada as part of a global offering without having to add supplemental prescribed Canadian disclosure, usually called a “wrapper”. The intended effect of removing the requirement for a Canada-specific wrapper is to provide sophisticated Canadian investors with increased access to foreign offerings. The relief from Canadian wrapper requirements for certain foreign offerings becomes effective June 22, 2013, and is scheduled to expire in June 2016, by which time it is expected that the relief will be continued through rule-making.