The Government of Canada has released proposed regulations to accompany the proposed amendments to the Canada Business Corporations Act under Bill C-25 (discussed here). These proposed regulations add detail to Bill C-25's three major themes:

• Diversity disclosure;
• Majority voting in uncontested director elections; and
• Internet-based provision of meeting materials to shareholders (notice-and-access).

The proposed regulations were published on December 13, 2016 and will not come into effect until Bill C-25 itself takes force (it has passed second reading). As noted in our previous post, Bill C-25 is primarily an effort to bring the CBCA into alignment with recent developments in Canada's securities laws and stock exchange rules.

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On January 19, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published Staff Notice 51-347 Disclosure of cyber security risks and incidents (Staff Notice), which reports on their broad-ranging review of the filings of the 240 constituent issuers in the S&P/TSX Composite Index concerning their disclosure of cybersecurity issues. The review focused on how cybersecurity issues have been addressed in risk factor disclosure, as well as disclosure about any previous cybersecurity incidents.

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Forbes Media LLC.

As it publishes its annual report today, the U.K.'s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) reveals it has asked the government for more oversight powers.

The independent regulator's role is to promote high quality corporate governance and reporting to foster investment. Over the last few years its strategy has been driven by what it sees as the lessons of the global financial crisis. Now, after 25 years of evolution for the U.K.'s Corporate Governance Code set out by Sir Adrian Cadbury, the FRC is ready to concede that further changes are needed to restore public trust in business and intends to do so essentially by putting more teeth into "comply or explain."

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The regulation of federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs) continued intensifying in 2016 with a new wave of legislative and regulatory initiatives impacting mortgage lending, the bank resolution regime, the life insurance capital framework, anti-money laundering legislation, deposit insurance, and corporate and operational-risk governance, among many other areas. The key initiatives introduced or implemented in 2016 are outlined in this, our annual regulatory overview.

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Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.

In a corporate directors survey (the Survey) entitled "The swinging pendulum: Board governance in the age of shareholder empowerment", PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) presents current trends in investor influence and their impact on governance practices of boards and management teams.

Conducted amongst 884 company directors in the summer of 2016 with respondents representing over 24 industries, the Survey highlights the increasing influence of investors and board sentiment in this "new age of shareholder empowerment".

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