Proxy Contests Roundtable

Join us for the Proxy Contests Roundtable.  See the agenda here.  To register, email kim. snell@utoronto.ca.

Crowdfunding: A Step in the Right Direction

Anita Anand
Friday, August 30, 2013

This week, the Ontario Securities Commission published a progress report in which it indicated that it will consider a crowdfunding exemption. This is good news for investors and issuers.

“Crowdfunding” is a means of selling any product or service over the Internet to a broad group of consumers. The cost savings for the issuer  are obvious: the issuer can raise capital more quickly than under the traditional prospectus method. The absence of an underwriter means that there is no “spread” (i.e. the net profit between the proceeds of the issue and the amount the issuer receives) payable to the underwriter. The issuer “speaks to” investors directly by selling its securities over the Internet. Non-pecuniary benefits include an investor’s ability to purchase securities in a startup that is connected to social causes that he or she supports.

National Post publishes law student's oped on the issue of regulating safety

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Law student Laura Mcgee, 3L, wrote an oped in the National Post, "Don’t regulate safety — incentivize it", which suggests a bond-posting requirement could be used to incentivize companies to implement cutting-edge safety measures.

Mcgee argues this type of regulation could prevent future tragedies, such as the fire and train derailment recently in Lac Megantic, Quebec.

JD student Laura McGee writes "How to encourage corporate social responsibility" in Policy Options

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

In the magazine Policy Options, JD student Laura McGee has written an opinion piece proposing income tax incentives to encourage corporations to include “social responsibility” provisions in their articles of incorporation (""How to encourage corporate social responsibility," May 2013).

Read the article on the Policy Options website (PDF)

JD student Grant Bishop in The Globe and Mail: "Canadian Banks: Bigger is better"

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

In a commentary in The Globe and Mail, JD student Grant Bishop looks at various studies examining the reasons behind the stability of Canadian banks ("Canadian Banks: Bigger is better," April 11, 2013). Bishop was formerly an economist at a major Canadian financial institution.

Read the full commentary on The Globe and Mail website, or below.

Groundbreaking Program on Ethics in Law and Business launches

Monday, March 11, 2013

Launch of the Program on Ethics in Law and Business

By Noel Semple, JD 2007, SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for the Legal Profession

CILP Panel Discussion - Equity Crowdfunding: Boon or Bust?

CILP

The Ontario Securities Commission has issued a consultation paper asking whether the practice of equity crowdfunding should be permitted in Ontario.   The University of Toronto Faculty of Law's Centre for Innovation Law and Policy and Centre for the Legal Profession have invited a panel of distinguished experts to discuss whether equity crowdfunding will stimulate economic growth – or the business of fraud.

Speakers include:

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