Title: Canadian securities regulation and foreign blocking legislation

Authors: Andrew Gray, Graeme Hamilton

Addresses: Torys LLP, Suite 3000, Box 270, TD Centre Toronto, ON, M5K 1N2, Canada. ' Harvard Law School, 4311 HLS Residential Mail Center, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Abstract: Knowing who benefits financially from a securities trade is necessary for the detection, prosecution and deterrence of illegal securities trading. Foreign jurisdictions with banking or securities secrecy laws are frequently used as a platform for illegal activity to frustrate law enforcement. This paper considers the extent to which Canadian law gives effect to so-called foreign blocking legislation. We conclude that while Canadian law does not generally give effect to foreign blocking legislation, it imposes only limited requirements on market intermediaries to collect beneficial ownership information. Regulators are therefore left with the option of obtaining assistance from their foreign counterparts.

Keywords: Canada; securities regulation; insider trading; banks; confidentiality; banking secrecy laws; securities secrecy laws; market intermediaries; beneficial ownership; securities regulators; Switzerland; foreign blocking legislation; business governance; business ethics; economic crime prevention.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2010.029558

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2010 Vol.5 No.1/2, pp.87 - 97

Published online: 30 Nov 2009 *

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