The Aird & Berlis Capital Markets Group focuses on domestic and international public and private debt and equity financings, rights offerings, take-over bids, stock exchange listings, initial public offerings, reorganizations, plans of arrangement, mergers, acquisitions and divestiture transactions including "going private" transactions. Our clients include private and public corporations, family offices and other investors, financial institutions, mutual funds, investment dealers and limited partnerships. We have acted for shareholders with respect to proxy contests and for a range of clients in regulatory hearings -including regulatory hearings at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) - as well as judicial proceedings.
Our clients seek our assistance in transaction-oriented securities law matters. We structure transactions in the most efficient manner and advise on securities legislation and stock exchange regulations in Canada.
We also help clients with a wide range of corporate and securities compliance matters, including:
- Holding shareholders' meetings;
- Periodic and continuous disclosure and insider trading requirements;
- General listing matters in relation to the rules of the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange and Canadian Securities Exchange;
- Corporate governance best practices and principles such as with respect to the advisability, composition and use of independent committees of boards of directors, gender diversity matters, board succession and formation of all Corporate and Board policies.
We frequently contribute to the formulation of policies under the Securities Act (Ontario), which directly affect our clients. From time to time, we also take part in the secondment program of the OSC in order to enhance our skills and develop an intimate understanding of the operations and procedures of the Commission. In addition, several of our Capital Markets Group lawyers have served, and one presently serves, on the OSC’s Securities Advisory Committee. Another member of our Capital Markets Group serves on the OSC’s Small & Medium Enterprises Committee.