On November 5, 2024, Donald Trump secured a decisive victory in the U.S. presidential election. In response, markets surged, while activists watched closely as companies and investors alike prepared for uncertainty and braced against the threat of “America First” tariffs
activist engagement
2023 Activism Recap
The 2023 proxy season was marked by a number of notable developments in the activism landscape. After a downturn in shareholder activism throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada experienced a resurgence in 2023 with a record number of activist campaigns. Activists…
Shareholder meeting format: considerations for going virtual in 2024
With the 2024 proxy season now in full swing, companies face a number of important questions. Among them is the timely question of meeting format: whether to hold the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in person, virtually, or…
AI governance: considerations for the 2024 proxy season and beyond
As artificial intelligence (AI) regulation takes shape globally, public companies face the challenge of navigating this evolving landscape. In Canada, securities regulators are actively deliberating on how best to regulate AI, while in the US, companies are already…
Corporate litigation update – shareholder rights under corporate statutes in Q1 2024
This blog post is the first of a new series looking at recent developments in Canadian corporate litigation, with a slight bias towards Ontario. The goal is to provide regular updates on court decisions that are of interest to the…
B.C. Securities Commission sets high threshold for finding parties to be “acting jointly or in concert”
Recently, the B.C. Securities Commission (the Commission) clarified the interpretation of “acting jointly or in concert” in the context of a proxy fight, setting a high bar for a finding of a joint actor relationship.
Putting the “green” in green investing
The past several years have seen “green investing” rise to prominence. In 2020, environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds captured $51.1 billion of net new capital from investors, a fifth consecutive annual record. At the same time, companies…
ESG & Shareholder Activism: Ready or Not, Here it Comes
“ESG” stands for Environmental, Social and Governance and describes a handful of criteria used by both issuers and investors to focus on a corporation’s impact and activity regarding topics like environmental protection, climate change, support for the local and global…
Social Media and the Retail Investor: A Regulator’s Dilemma
With the growing accessibility of “do-it-yourself” investment technology, it should come as no surprise that retail investing has been on the rise. In fact, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) recently published a study (the Study) which reveals…
A Recap of the OSC Decision on the Minimum Tender Requirement under the New Canadian Takeover Bid Regime
On February 23, 2021, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) released its reasons in ESW Capital, LLC, 2021 ONSEC 7 (the ESW Decision), in which the OSC considered the availability of an exemption from the minimum tender…