Understanding the Stock Market and its purpose – Canadian Securities Exchange

Submitted by nsscadmin on Wed, 07/24/2024 - 09:00

Our blog series on the stock market continues this week with a look at the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE). The CSE was founded in 2001 when it was known as the Canadian Trading and Quotation System Inc. (CNQ). In 2008, the CNQ re-branded as the Canadian National Stock Exchange (CNSX), to reflect its stock exchange status. Following a brand consolidation in 2014, the exchange changed its name to its current name. The CSE has been dubbed an “alternative stock exchange,” and the “exchange for entrepreneurs” during its short history.

CSE listed their first issuers in 2003 and the following year became the first exchange in Canada to be recognized by the Ontario Securities Commission in 70 years. The CSE is an exchange for smaller emerging companies that are not large enough to be listed on the TSX and the TSX Venture. The requirements to list on the CSE include:

The company must be a reporting issuer in good standing in any Canadian jurisdiction.
Issuers must meet the minimum standards for listing as outlined in CSE Policy 2 – Qualifications for Listing.
Listed companies are bound by the Listing Agreement to follow the policies and rules of the CSE

A few notable milestones and statistics during the CSE’s history include:

2009 - becoming a designated exchange and its issuers becoming eligible to be held in TFSAs and RRSPs
2008 - a large influx of issuers from the cannabis sector listing on the CSE
2022 - surpassing the 800-issuer mark
As of April, 2024 the CSE has 805 listed companies with a market capitalization of $378 million.

In our next part in this series, we’ll look at a different type of exchange, the Montreal Exchange

Failure to file annual financial statements.
Failure to file interim financial statements.
Failure to file an annual or interim management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A) or an annual or interim management report of fund performance (MRFP).
Failure to file an Annual Information Form (AIF).
Failure to file a certification of annual or interim filings required by Multilateral Instrument 52-109 Certification of Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings (MI 52-109).
Failure to file required proxy materials or a required information circular.
Failure to file an issuer profile supplement on the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI).
Failure to file a material change report.
Failure to provide a written update after filing a confidential report of a material change.
Failure to file a business acquisition report.
Failure to file annual oil and gas disclosure prescribed by National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure of Oil and Gas Activities (NI 51-101) or technical reports for a mineral project required under NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).
Failure to file a mandatory news release.
Failure to file corporate governance disclosure as required by national Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices (NI 58-101).
Failure to file audit committee disclosure as required by Multilateral Instrument 52-110 Audit Committees (MI 52-110) or BC Instrument 52-509 Audit Committees.
Failure to include disclosure in an issuer’s MD&A relating to disclosure controls and procedures and their direct effectiveness that is referred to in a certificate filed under MI 52-109.
Financial statements of the reporting issuer, or the auditors’ report accompanying the financial statements, do not comply with the requirements of NI 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations (NI 51-102), National Instrument 81-106 Investment Fund Continuous Disclosure (NI 81-106) or National Instrument 52-107 Acceptable Accounting Principles, Auditing Standards and Reporting Currency (NI 52-107).
The reporting issuer has acknowledged that its financial statements, or the auditors’ report accompanying the financial statements, may no longer be relied upon.
The reporting issuer’s AIF, MD&A, MRFP, information circular, or business acquisition reports do not contain information for each of the content items required by NI 51-102 or NI 81-106.
The reporting issuer’s technical disclosure or other reports do not comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 43-101 or 51-101.
Failure to pay a fee required by the Act or the regulations.
Failure to comply with any other requirement related to continuous disclosure.