As a Canadian Company, can Canadians Invest in Your RegA+?

by | Wednesday September 22, 2021
As a Canadian Company, can Canadians Invest in Your RegA+?

We have extensively discussed how Americans can invest in securities offered under Regulation A+. However, Canadian companies can also use the exemption to raise capital to fund their businesses. Despite the ability for Canadian companies to use Reg A+, this was a decision made by US regulators, as the JOBS Act is a US, not Canadian, law.

 

Because Reg A+ is a US regulation, it makes it incredibly simple for Canadian companies to raise money from investors based in the United States. They go through the standard procedures for Tier 1 or 2 offerings before making the offering available to investors. On the other hand, Canadians investing in Canadian companies through Reg A+ is a little more challenging to be done.

 

In theory, it is possible. The issuer would need to be qualified in each Canadian province they are conducting the offering in. They can seek a Canadian equivalent of a broker-dealer to structure the offering so that investors can invest. In practice, this is not done very often, as meeting compliance requirements for all Canadian provinces is challenging in addition to US compliance requirements. In addition, the cost would be far more than the potential upside. Interestingly enough, Canadian regulators have created rules for secondary trading that give Canadian investors more opportunities to invest. Canadian investors can “hop the border,” so to speak, and buy securities in a secondary market transaction. This allows Canadians to purchase securities in a Canadian company.

 

Even though Canadian companies could technically raise money from Canadians under Reg A+, it is often cost-prohibitive. That does not mean investors are out of luck. Through secondary market transactions, Canadian investors can purchase securities in Canadian companies, allowing them to become shareholders.

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