The New Brunswick Securities Commission reports that it joined all other provinces and territories, except Ontario, today in implementing another piece of the passport system, the Principal Regulator System Rule covering three areas of securities regulation: registration; prospectus review; and continuous disclosure.

The NBSC says that this new rule is part of a further move by the Canadian Securities Administrators to streamline the regulatory framework across Canada. The system permits a market participant access to the capital markets in multiple jurisdictions by dealing through the regulator and with the legislation in its principal jurisdiction. The location of a market participant’s head office will normally determine the jurisdiction of the principal regulator. All other jurisdictions implementing the Principal Regulator System Rule would, in essence, waive the application of their local rules, so long as the rules of the principal jurisdiction were met.

“We have an effective system of national regulation run provincially.” says Donne Smith, chair of the New Brunswick Securities Commission, “The Principal Regulator System Rule provides a single window of access for market participants in areas where securities laws are already highly harmonized across Canada or where harmonization can be achieved quickly. We expect to see further advancements in this area.”

The NBSC says that the adoption of this rule represents a significant milestone for the commission because for the first time, it enables it to undertake primary reviews in all aspects of processing registration requirements, reviewing and clearing prospectuses, monitoring continuous disclosure and granting statutory and discretionary exemptions. The decisions by the New Brunswick Securities Commission would be relied upon by the other jurisdictions as meeting their regulatory requirements.