(April 13 – 11:35 ET) – The Toronto Stock Exchange says that the Proposed National Escrow Policy will make going public easier for Canadian companies. The proposal was released by the Canadian Securities Administrators on March 17.

Since March 17, companies applying to be listed on the TSE have the option to be governed by the new rule or by the TSE’s existing policy.

The new policy proposes that there be no escrow for the principals of any issuer that is listed on the TSE as an exempt listing. It also proposes that non-exempt issuers raise minimum gross proceeds of $75 million.

The maximum escrow is cut from three years to 18 months. Principal sales be secondary distribution will be easier too.

The TSE will also stop scrutinizing, and in some cases disallowing, pre-IPO options granted at a discount to the IPO price. It will treat these early options as equity securities for the purpose of determining escrow.

These new escrow rules will also apply to reverse takeovers.
-IE Staff