a special supplement to ACC Docket
sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
1 Canadian Government Tables Legislation
Mandating Disclosure of Payments by
Extractive Sector Companies
By Andrew Godfrey
5 Amendments to the Canadian
Trademarks Act Are Coming:
What Trademark Owners Should Do
By Adrienne M. Blanchard
and Danièle Boutet
8 Don’t Get Too Excited for the
Second Phase of Canada’s Anti-Spam Law
By Joshua H. Shields
Canadian Government Tables Legislation
Mandating Disclosure of Payments by
Extractive Sector Companies
By Andrew Godfrey ( andrew.godfrey@nortonrosefulbright.com), Norton Rose Fulbright
Canada’s federal government recently
tabled its newly developed Extractive
Sector Transparency Measures Act (the
Act), which requires that companies involved in the commercial development
of oil, gas and minerals publicly disclose
payments that they make to foreign and
domestic government entities. While
the Act was introduced in the House
of Commons in October 2014, the Canadian government has committed to
bring it into force by April 1, 2015.
Development of the Act
The Act is part of a larger international
movement toward increased disclosure
by companies involved in the extractive
industry. Similar legislation has already
been passed in the European Union and
the United States, with both working
through the implementation process.
In 2013, the EU approved its Trans-
parency and Accounting Directives
(the Directives), which seek to impose
mandatory reporting requirements on
oil, gas, mining and forestry compa-
nies. While countries belonging to the
EU have until 2015 to incorporate the
Directives into their national legislative
frameworks, certain EU members, such
as the United Kingdom, France and
Germany, have already enacted draft
legislation, with the United Kingdom
tabling mandatory disclosure legisla-
tion on Monday, October 28, 2014.
The American Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act similarly requires that “resource ex-
traction issuers” generate annual reports
outlining the payments that they have
made to domestic and foreign govern-
ments in relation to the commercial
development of oil, natural gas and min-
erals. The US Securities and Exchange
Commission is charged with creating
rules to implement these disclosure
requirements. While the SEC’s initial
attempt to mandate disclosure pursuant
Interested in authoring for Canadian
Briefings Visit www.acc.com/docket/
edguide.cfm, or contact Editor in Chief
Tiffani Alexander at alexander@acc.com.
