Released on January 27 by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the Proposed Amendments aim at reducing the regulatory burden impacted entities are subject to while filing their investment funds prospectus.

Adopting a staged approach, the CSA is seeking first to gather feedback on the Proposed Amendments that reduces the frequency of prospectus filing for investment funds in continuous disclosure.

More specifically,

• The lapse date for investment funds in continuous distribution will be extended from 12 months to 24 months, to allow investment funds to file their pro forma prospectuses biennially instead of annually.

• The 90-day rule, requiring to file a final prospectus no more than 90 days after the issuance of a receipt for a preliminary prospectus, will be repealed for all investment funds.

Comments should be provided on the proposed amendments and consequential changes to

• National Instrument 41-101 General Prospectus Requirements (NI 41-101)

• National Instrument 81-101 Mutual Fund Prospectus Disclosure (NI 81-101)

• National Instrument 81-106 Investment Fund Continuous Disclosure (NI 81-106)

• Companion Policy 41-101 General Prospectus Requirements (41-101CP)

• Companion Policy 81-101 Mutual Fund Prospectus Disclosure (81-101CP)

The filing requirements applicable to fund facts and ETF facts documents remained unchanged.

Stage 2 will focus on a proposal to introduce a new shelf prospectus filing model that will apply to all investment funds in continuous distribution.

Comments are to be submitted by April 27, 2022.