Whistleblowers: the trend in regulatory & anti-retaliation initiatives

Whistleblowers: the trend in regulatory & anti-retaliation initiatives

Responding in the shadow of the OSC’s new policy and implications for organizations’ best practices

Last July, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) Office of the Whistleblower will be open to receiving tips on potential non-compliance with securities legislation. This is the first program in Canada to provide financial incentives to those who report wrongdoing to a regulator. This bold new initiative could impact internal reporting systems, with whistleblowers seeking to receive cash payouts potentially as high as $5 million for reporting corporate misconduct. At the same time, the Ontario Securities Act was amended to prohibit retaliation against whistleblowers and to nullify contractual provisions which restrict individuals from making reports to the OSC.

These changes have important implications for internal whistleblower policies and practices and compliance, confidentiality clauses and agreements, securities enforcement and compliance, employment law and corporate governance.

Please join us on Tuesday, November 15 as we discuss this bold new initiative and its implications for public companies in Canada with our panel of experts, who will be joined by an experienced in-house counsel:

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Larry Ritchie, National Chair of the Risk Management and Crisis Response practice and
Co-Chair of the Securities Regulatory and Broker–Dealer disputes practices, Osler

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Andrew MacDougall, National Leader of the Corporate Governance practice, Osler

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Jason Hanson, National Chair of the Labour & Employment practice, Osler

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Bassem A. Shakeel, Vice-President and Corporate Secretary, Magna

Continuing Professional Development:

Ontario: Total CPD = 1.5 Substantive Hours + 0.0 Professionalism Hours.

THIS EVENT IS FREE OF CHARGE TO IN-HOUSE COUNSEL ONLY BUT YOU MUST RSVP TO ATTEND.

Space is limited.

ACC Ontario has the right to review all registrations and revoke any registrations from persons who do not qualify to attend the event. In-house counsel must be ACC members or meet ACC membership eligibility. See www.acc.com/aboutacc/membership/eligibility.cfm

ACC ONTARIO CHAPTER NO SHOW WITHOUT NOTICE POLICY

Please note that although we strive to keep ACC Ontario Chapter educational and social events generally free of charge to in-house counsel, when in-house counsel register for an event and then do not attend without notice, it hinders the ability of the Chapter and our sponsors to plan and may result in a waste of food or other resources. Please try to attend events for which you have registered and to provide reasonable advance notice if you know you will be unable to attend. If a person is twice unable to provide the Chapter with 24 hours’ notice of cancellation for a free event for which he or she registered, a $25 fee will be required upon registering for the next event that is free to other in-house counsel. Upon payment of the $25 fee, the initial two strikes will be reset to zero and this policy will continue to apply. We thank you for your consideration and cooperation.