The CSA recently published CSA Staff Notice 51-344 Continuous Disclosure Review Program Activities for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, which provides guidance to reporting issuers on common deficiencies identified by the regulators in their annual review of continuous disclosure by reporting issuers.

The CSA’s report identifies common deficiencies in financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A), as well as other regulatory disclosure requirements, such as the mineral project disclosure.

  • Financial statement deficiencies included inadequate disclosure about operating segments, business combinations and fair value measurement.
  • MD&A deficiencies included inadequate disclosure about liquidity and capital resources, results of operations, forward-looking information/non-GAAP measures and REIT distributions.
  • Other regulatory deficiencies included failure to file material contacts and material change reports, and selective disclosure of material non-public information.

Material deficiencies identified by the regulators could require issuers to provide additional disclosure or to refile the relevant documents, which may draw unwanted attention to the regulatory compliance of such issuers.