Archive for the 'Investment Canada' Category
August 19, 2013
As I said in some earlier posts, I had taken a bit of a summer hiatus from my blogs for a few weeks. Given that summer is edging away alas, I am beginning to focus again on Canadian and international competition law developments, events and new competition, advertising and regulatory law developments. To begin to kick off the (upcoming) fall developments, this new Canada/China trade initiative being launched by UBC caught my eye today:
June 11, 2013
Two new Investment Canada Act related reports have recently been published by The Conference Board of Canada (Green Machine: Financing Growth in the New Saskatchewan) and the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy (China’s State-Owned Enterprises: How Much Do We Know? From CNOOC to its Siblings).
March 21, 2013
Earlier today the C.D. Howe Institute published a new “shadow budget” entitled “Prudence and Opportunity: A Shadow Federal Budget for 2013” to coincide with the release of the new Federal budget.
New Publications: China SOE Paper: “Evolution of China’s Energy Institutions” (UofA China Institute)
March 16, 2013
The University of Alberta’s China Institute has published a new paper on Chinese SOEs entitled: The Evolution of China’s Energy Institutions (Y. Bao & G. Houlden authors).
January 22, 2013
The Conference Board of Canada published a news release and report earlier today on Canada/China trade entitled: “Walking the Silk Road: Understanding Canada’s Changing Trade Patterns”. Abstract:
“Canada’s trading patterns have changed fundamentally over the past decade. The Canadian–U.S. trade relationship is waning in importance, while emerging markets, particularly China, are becoming increasingly important. Also, our trade strengths are shifting away from some manufactured products toward professional services and products related to our natural resource wealth. These changes are not just the result of the strong dollar; the growing role of emerging markets and shrinking trade barriers are key drivers. This briefing examines these changes and a wide array of factors affecting them.”
For copies of the news release and report see: here and here.
January 5, 2013
Industry Canada announced that it is expected that the Investment Canada Act review threshold for WTO investors or vendors will be Cdn. $344 million for 2013 (to be published in the Canada Gazette in early 2013). The threshold is indexed annually to reflect GDP growth. For more information about the Investment Canada Act and Canada’s foreign investment rules see: Investment Canada, national security, state-owned-enterprises (SOEs).
December 11, 2012
The Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) and School of Public Policy (University of Calgary) hosted a half-day Canada in the Pacific Century conference on December 10th (see: Canada in the Pacific Century), as part of its series on Canada/Asia trade.
The CCCE has now uploaded slides and videos from the conference – see: webcast of “Canada in the Pacific Century”.
Conference overview:
“Asia’s rise is the single most important force transforming the global economy at the beginning of the 21st century. Rapid urbanization and the expected doubling of the world’s middle class will have far-reaching consequences, from unprecedented demand for food, energy and other resources, to a reshaping of the multilateral trading system. Countries and companies that adapt successfully to these changes can expect to prosper and grow; others will be left behind. On behalf of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, thank you for participating in this conference series on Canada’s economic prospects in a rebalanced global economy.”
December 7, 2012
Earlier today, the Federal Government announced that it was granting Investment Canada Act approval for China National Offshore Oil Company’s (CNOOC) acquisition of Nexen Inc. and PETRONAS’ acquisition of Progress Energy (see: here and here).
With respect to CNOOC/Nexen, the Minister of Industry emphasized CNOOC commitments relating to governance, commercial orientation and free market principles as factors for approving the transaction:
“To demonstrate that the transaction is likely to be of net benefit, CNOOC has made significant commitments to Canada in the areas of: governance, including commitments on transparency and disclosure; commercial orientation, including an adherence to Canadian laws and practices as well as free market principles; and employment and capital investments, which demonstrate a long-term commitment to the development of the Canadian economy. A compliance report related to the undertakings will be provided to Industry Canada annually.”
As anticipated, at the same time the Government also released a new Policy Statement and revised State-Owned-Enterprise Guidelines (Investment by state-owned enterprises – Net benefit assessment) for net benefit to Canada reviews of investments by SOEs that amend Guidelines first issued in 2007.
Some of the key changes (and shifts in policy) that struck me on my review of the new SOE Guidelines and Policy Statement include:
1. The Federal Government sending a clear signal that acquisitions of control by SOEs in Canada’s oil sands will be found to be of net benefit to Canada only on an “exceptional basis”. When questioned in an interview following the announcements, the Prime Minister did not amplify on what circumstances may satisfy this test.
2. More formal monitoring of SOE transactions (which is consistent with an increased desire by the Government generally to ensure that Investment Canada Act undertakings are fulfilled).
3. Increasing the scrutiny on the level of control by a foreign state (to include the control or influence of the SOE over the business and relevant industry, as well as the control/influence of the foreign state over the SOE). In this regard, the definition of SOE in the Guidelines has been expanded to include “influence” in addition to ownership and control (the Investment Canada Act does not define SOE).
4. Distinguishing between reviews for acquisitions of control from minority investments including joint ventures (the latter “continuing to be welcome”, while the former will be cleared only on an “exceptional basis”).
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
