A recent paper by ICSA: The Governance Institute and the Investment Association, entitled The Stakeholder Voice in Board Decision Making, offers boards guidance on directors’ duties under U.K. law, focusing on the identification of and engagement with key stakeholders and consideration of stakeholders’ interests in board decision-making.
Boards of Canadian ...
Corporate directors are typically charged by law, convention and societal expectations to bring effective supervision and management to the affairs of the enterprise. The ultimate goal is for management to be able to focus on running the business and getting things done, with all required Board decisions, guidance and directives in hand.
Productive director time is ...
The 2017 Federal Budget (the “Budget”) was released March 22nd, 2017 (“Budget Day”). Highlights include:
Upcoming Review of Private Corporate Tax Planning
The Budget announced that the federal government will be looking into:
- Income sprinkling using private corporations: The Budget states that this strategy can reduce income taxes by causing income that ...
Business
Corporate Tax Rate
The small business corporate income tax rate will be reduced from 2.5% to 2% effective April 1, 2017. This means that the combined Federal and Provincial tax rate for small business income, up to $500,000 per year, will be 12.5% in British Columbia (subject, of course, to any changes coming in the Federal Budget).
The Government projects this ...
On September 14, 2016, Alberta’s securities regulator published for comment proposed amendments to National Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices (NI 58-101) and Form 58-101F1 Corporate Governance Disclosure. These changes include new “comply or explain” reporting rules requiring companies to disclose the following in their proxy ...
The 2016 Federal Budget was released March 22nd. The overarching theme is to provide increased benefits and relief to middle-class individuals and to close or restrict cross-border tax planning. Highlights include:
Income Tax
Increased Individual Marginal Tax Rates
As part of Bill C-2 tabled on December 9, 2015, the federal government announced an increase to the top ...
On November 23, 2015, the Lieutenant Governor in Council issued Order No. 673, which provided that the British Columbia Societies Act (the “New Act”) will come into force on November 28, 2016, replacing the existing Society Act (the “Existing Act”). Order No. 673 also introduced the new Societies Regulation (the “Regulation”) which provides model bylaws for ...
Introduction
In its recent decision in Minister of National Revenue v. BP Canada Energy Company, the Federal Court of Canada considered the Minister’s ability to compel BP to provide its tax accrual working papers pursuant to the Minister’s inspection powers in subsection 231.1(1) of the Income Tax Act. The decision in favour of the Minister signals a ...
On March 25, 2015, Minister of Finance Michael de Jong introduced Bill 24, the Societies Act, in the British Columbia Legislature. The Bill, which received Royal Assent on May 14, 2015, substantially reforms the current not-for-profit legislative regime. It repeals and replaces the existing Society Act, which governed over 27,000 not-for-profit legal entities in ...
The new BC Limitation Act came into force on June 1, 2013. One of the significant changes was to reduce the basic limitation period for most claims to two years from the date the claim was discovered. As a result, claims discovered on or after June 1, 2013 will become statute-barred in the very immediate future.
While it is always a good idea to take inventory of potential claims ...
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