The Stel Salaried Pensioners Organization wishes to thank The Hamilton Spectator for permission to post the following article by Reporter Gary Norris (The Canadian Press) published in the March 30, 2004 edition

Mar. 30, 2004. 01:02 AM

Top execs held accountable under new disclosure rules

By Gary Norris
The Canadian Press

Chief executive officers and chief financial officers must certify their companies' financial reports -- which among other things must say how much those executives are paid -- under new cross-Canada corporate disclosure rules that take effect today.

The new regime, which applies to most publicly listed corporations, harmonizes the previous tangle of disclosure regulations in the country's 13 jurisdictions.

It also gives investors "higher quality information on a timelier basis," according to the Canadian Securities Administrators, the co-ordinating body of the provincial and territorial securities commissions.

Among the changes (described more fully at www.osc.gov.on.ca/webcast):

* Deadlines for filing quarterly and annual financial reports are shortened. Instead of the periods of 60 days to prepare interim reports and 120 days for annual reports, TSX-listed and other major companies must file within 45 days quarterly and 90 days annually. Small venture issuers get 60 days and 120 days, respectively.

* CEOs and CFOs must sign quarterly and annual reports to certify that they have reviewed the documents and that the information is complete and accurate.

* Off-balance-sheet transactions, such as those that helped bring Enron to grief, "must be disclosed if reasonably likely to have an effect on results of operations or financial condition."

* Financial reports must "discuss" all transactions with related parties, such as sales or purchases of assets owned by executives or directors.

* Significant business acquisitions must be fully reported within 75 days.

* Companies must disclose the compensation of their chief executive officer, chief financial officer and top three other executives earning more than $150,000.

"The net result of these rules is that investors will receive more consistent disclosure on a more timely basis, and they can be more confident in the quality of the information they receive," Steve Sibold, chairman of the Canadian Securities Administrators and of the Alberta Securities Commission, said in a statement yesterday from Calgary.

"International investors can remain confident that Canada's disclosure and governance standards continue to be as stringent as those anywhere in the world."