Canadian Securities Regulators Adopt Amendments to Improve Scholarship Plan Disclosure for Investors

TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2013 /CNW/ - The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced today the adoption of amendments to National Instrument 41-101 General Prospectus Requirements and Form 41-101F2 Information Required in an Investment Fund Prospectus, which are designed to provide investors with enhanced disclosure about scholarship plans.

The adopted amendments represent an important step in modernizing the regulation of scholarship plans by introducing Form 41-101F3 Information Required in a Scholarship Plan Prospectus, a new prospectus form that is tailored to the unique features of scholarship plans.

Central to the new form is the Plan Summary, a short, concise document that provides investors with key information in a simple, accessible and comparable format. The Plan Summary is in plain language and provides important information about the potential risks and costs of investing in a scholarship plan.

"Saving for a child's education is an important step in investment planning and these materials are aimed at providing families with information in an easy-to-understand format in order to help them make an informed investment decision," said Bill Rice, Chair of the CSA and Chair and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission.

A copy of the Notice and related materials can be found on the websites of CSA members. In some jurisdictions, ministerial approvals are required to implement the amendments. If all such approvals are obtained, the amendments will come into force on May 31, 2013.

The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada's provinces and territories, coordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.

SOURCE: Canadian Securities Administrators

Carolyn Shaw-Rimmington
Ontario Securities Commission
416-593-2361

Mark Dickey
Alberta Securities Commission
403-297-4481

Sylvain Théberge
Autorité des marchés financiers
514-940-2176

Richard Gilhooley
British Columbia Securities Commission
604-899-6713

Ainsley Cunningham
Manitoba Securities Commission
204-945-4733

Wendy Connors-Beckett
New Brunswick Securities Commission
506-643-7745

Tanya Wiltshire
Nova Scotia Securities Commission
902-424-8586

Dean Murrison
Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan
306-787-5842

Janice Callbeck
The Office of the Superintendent of Securities, P.E.I.
902-368-6288

Doug Connolly
Financial Services Regulation Division
Newfoundland and Labrador
709-729-2594

Rhonda Horte
Office of the Yukon Superintendent of Securities
867-667-5466

Louis Arki
Nunavut Securities Office
867-975-6587

Donn MacDougall
Northwest Territories
Securities Office
867-920-8984