The Alberta Securities Commission is announcing that the new Resale Rule will come into effect on November 30.

The Resale Rule harmonizes resale restrictions in all of the closed jurisdictions across Canada, except for Quebec who is not participating.

It will have limited application in the “open jurisdictions” — Manitoba, New Brunswick, PEI, and the Yukon.

In Alberta, the new rule will effectively replace the existing resale provisions. This means that all privately placed securities will attract either a four or 12 month restricted period and/or a for or 12 month seasoning period, depending on whether the issuer is a qualifying issuer.

If the issuer is a qualifying issuer, the issuer will have to have been a reporting issuer for at least four months prior to the distribution and the securities being resold have been held for at least four months. If not a qualifying issuer, the securities will have to be held for at least 12 months.

If the issuer is not a reporting issuer anywhere in Canada, the securities remain subject to an indefinite restricted period as is currently the case. The resale provisions applicable to a distribution from a control block have also been modified — four months for securities of a qualifying issuer and either six or 12 months (depending on the exemption relied on) for non-qualifying issuers.