Securities • Issues & Advocacy

Key issues for business governance, rules: poll

National Post
Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Nearly half of investor-relations officials and directors in Corporate Canada say regulation and governance are the most important issues affecting business today, outweighing growth concerns and the economic climate, a survey suggests.

The Ipsos-Reid poll, released yesterday, also found 75% of respondents back a single securities regulator. In Alberta and British Columbia, 67% and 69%, of respondents, respectively, supported the idea of replacing the 13 regional regulators with a national securities commission.

The results for B.C. and Alberta present a sharp contrast to the stance of the respective provincial governments and securities regulators, which oppose a single commission.

The poll was sponsored by TSX Group Inc., the Canadian Investor Relations Institute, the law firm of Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP and the Institute of Corporate Directors.

It found that only 7% of the total 688 respondents opposed a single regulator.

The poll was conducted in July. The respondents were individuals with investor-relations and corporate-governance responsibilities at companies listed on the TSX and TSX Venture exchanges, as well as CIRI consultants. The survey has a margin of error of 3.7%.

The focus on regulation and corporate governance has been viewed as increasingly onerous by some, including a number of Canadian companies interlisted in the United States and thus subject to America's tough Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

However, respondents in the survey spoke positively of the measures being imposed by securities watchdogs in Canada.

"New audit committee responsibilities and composition, regulations, enhanced continuous disclosure obligations incorporating 'acceptable accounting principles,' auditing standards, and reporting currency are all viewed as improvements to the existing structure," the survey states.

Also, 33% of respondents named new regulatory requirements as a key factor behind an expected change in the makeup of the boards at their companies.

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