The B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) issued a pair of rules on Thursday that will allow investors in British Columbia to sell cease-traded securities back to their investment dealers under certain conditions.
The measures will mean cost savings for dealers, as they would no longer have to maintain inactive accounts for securities that are dormant, in addition to providing relief for investors to dispose of securities that they can’t otherwise trade, the BCSC says in a notice setting out the relief.
The regulatory relief requires that the securities must have been cease-traded for at least two years; that the securities are sold back to the dealer for “nominal consideration”; and the dealers cannot, in turn, trade the securities, but they can return them to the issuer to be cancelled. Also, the sales must take place in B.C.
“We intend this relief to provide a cost-effective and straightforward option for clients wishing to dispose of cease-traded securities,” the BCSC’s notice says.
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