(December 14 – 14:10 ET) – The board of directors of National Bank of Canada has adopted a shareholder rights plan.

The bank says the purpose of the plan is to ensure that the board will have sufficient time to properly consider any proposed bid for the bank and allow enough time for competing offers to emerge. The plan will be submitted to the bank’s shareholders on March 7, 2001.

According to the bank, the plan is being put in place in anticipation of a revision of the Canadian rules on ownership of financial institutions, in the event that draft legislation similar to Bill C-38 is tabled in the House of Commons in the near future.

Andre Berard, chairman of the board of, commented, “We are proposing to give the bank such a plan so that our shareholders can avail themselves of it should the occasion arise. That being said, I want to make two things clear: this rights plan is not being proposed in response to a purchase bid that we are aware of or that we expect to be made, nor is it being introduced to safeguard any discussions whatsoever with any party whatsoever.”

In the context of Bill C-38, a bank such as the National Bank with equity between $1 billion and $5 billion, could be owned up to 65% by a single person but would still be required to have shares carrying at least 35% of the voting rights listed on a Canadian stock exchange. Following the call for a federal election last November, the parliamentary session ended and Bill C-38 was not passed.
-IE Staff