Investors would have better access to performance data and other information, but paper reports will still be available
Giving investors better and faster access to key information about funds is the goal of a new proposal from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA).
By increasing online access to financial statements and management reports of fund performance from investment fund reporting issuers, the CSA hopes to increase transparency of information and make its distribution more efficient.
The proposal reflects the trend of investors preferring access to information online, although paper versions of reports would still be available on request.
Online reports would mean investors gaining more timely information and has the added benefit of being more climate-friendly. For fund issuers, using online information distribution would reduce long-term costs and regulatory burden, while maintaining investor protection.
The proposed changes
If the proposals are accepted, fund issuers would be required to:
- Post continuous disclosure documents on their designated websites.
- Alert investors when new documents are available by issuing a news release, which would also be posted to their designated websites and filed on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR).
- Send paper or electronic copies of the documents to investors upon request or in accordance with standing instructions.
Currently, the CSA is only proposing online access for continuous disclosure documents but says that it will consider the case for a broader range of documents to be delivered online.
The full proposals are available on the CSA website and stakeholders have until December 26, 2022, to submit written feedback.
