Canadian securities regulators are proposing rule amendments designed to beef up the disclosure requirements for scholarship plans.

The Canadian Securities Administrators Friday published for comment a second round of proposed amendments to the prospectus rules, which would introduce a tailored disclosure form for scholarship plans.

It first proposed a set of amendments to National Instrument 41-101 General Prospectus Requirements including Proposed Prospectus Form 41-101F3 Information Required In A Scholarship Plan Prospectus back in March 2010. Now, based on feedback from that initial publication, the CSA is proposing revisions that aim to further clarify the requirements.

The proposed new prospectus form aims to address a number of issues in current scholarship plan disclosure which were identified through previous CSA compliance and prospectus reviews, as well as a review of RESP industry practices that was carried out back in 2008.

The CSA notes that current scholarship plan disclosure is not consistent. “Many investors have trouble finding and understanding key information about the unique features of scholarship plans and have difficulty comparing information about different scholarship plans,” it says in its notice.

“These shortcomings result in less meaningful and effective disclosure for investors, and make it difficult for some investors to understand the possible outcomes and risks associated with scholarship plans.”

By implementing a prospectus form tailored to scholarship plans, the CSA hopes to produce more understandable and effective disclosure for investors, enabling them to make more informed investment decisions.

“The prospectus form is designed to provide investors with a simpler and clearer understanding of the potential benefits, risks and costs of investing in scholarship plans,” said Bill Rice, chair of the CSA and chair and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission. “By ensuring the form disclosure is effective, we aim to help investors make more informed investment decisions regarding saving for their children’s education.”

The comment period is open until Jan. 24, 2012.