In light of challenges that B.C. businesses now face relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, the provincial government has approved new regulations that postpone the coming-into-force date for the requirement for private B.C. companies to create and maintain transparency registers from May 1, 2020 to October 1, 2020. The new regulations also expand the list of companies that are not required to maintain transparency registers to include:
- companies that are wholly-owned subsidiaries of public companies;
- certain insurance and trust companies;
- certain government corporations;
- wholly-owned subsidiaries of corporations incorporated, continued or amalgamated by a B.C. statute or regulation;
- corporations incorporated or wholly owned by municipalities and regional districts;
- certain schools, including independent schools; and
- companies wholly owned by certain Indigenous nations.
The regulations now also provide that, with certain exceptions, an individual will not be deemed to indirectly control shares of a private company where one of the above entities or certain other specified persons (including a trustee of a testamentary trust) constitutes an ‘intermediary’ in the private company’s corporate structure.
If you have any questions about this legislative update or what you need to do to create a transparency register for your company, please contact any member of our Corporate Commercial Group. To learn more about what a transparency register is and what information is required, please see our firm’s previous blog post available here.
PartnerJulia Winters is a partner practicing business law with Lawson Lundell’s China Group. She regularly assists clients with acquiring, selling and financing real property in a variety of asset classes, including office buildings ...
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