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CSE Performance

2024 Year-End Rewind

January Highlights

To wrap up an incredible year, we’re sharing our favourite highlights from each month. For our first post, we’re looking all the way back to January, when Richard Carleton, CEO of the CSE, shared an important message on our blog, the CSE team attended a number of renowned events, and we released our first podcast of the year.

The “Senior” Exchange and Other Capital Market Myths Blog

In today’s challenging market, when market participants need a clear understanding of available choices, inaccurate storytelling sows unnecessary confusion.

As we entered 2024, Richard Carleton shared a special blog post, “The ‘Senior’ Exchange and Other Capital Market Myths,” to help bring clarity and dispel myths surrounding Canadian stock exchanges.

The blog post debunks “senior” exchanges, provides insight into securities laws and investing in CSE issuers, and highlights the unique qualities that set the CSE apart.

Read Now: The “Senior” Exchange and Other Capital Market Myths

VRIC 2024

On January 21-22, the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC), presented by Jay Martin, President and CEO of Cambridge House International, made its exciting return.

The CSE was pleased to connect with friends old and new in the mining and exploration space at this action-packed event, filled with keynotes from over 100 expert speakers, a tradeshow and exhibition, extensive networking sessions, and more.

The renowned event also served as a platform for sharing our unique expertise via two CSE-hosted panels, moderated by the CSE’s Anna Serin, Director of Listings Development for Western Canada and U.S. & Vancouver Branch Lead.

The first panel, “Beyond Borders: Navigating Cross-Border Capital and Liquidity Opportunities in Resource Companies,” featured the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO, and Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group.

The second panel, “Powering Tomorrow: Taking Stock of Global Lithium Supply in the Energy Revolution,” featured Jason Barnard, President and CEO of Foremost Clean Energy (CSE:FAT), and Scott Eldridge, CEO of United Lithium (CSE:ULTH).

Several CSE listed issuers also attended the event, including:

The CSE’s Renowned Mining Over Canada Reception

Back by popular demand, the CSE’s annual post-VRIC Mining Over Canada Reception was even bigger and better than ever.

Held at the prestigious Vancouver Club, the Canadiana-themed networking event brought together CSE listed issuers and members of the capital markets and mining communities for an evening filled with great live music, conversation, and outstanding food and drinks. 

The event was a resounding success thanks to our generous event sponsors, MNP, Odyssey Trust Company, Haywood Securities, Morton Law LLP, and Grove Corporate Services.

We hope you enjoy these photo highlights.

View the Album: Mining Over Canada 2024

The JSE 19th Regional Investments & Capital Market Conference

The CSE team enjoyed a productive break from the winter weather at the JSE 19th Regional Investments & Capital Market Conference on January 23–25 at Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. 

We were pleased to sponsor this three-day premier event, hosted by the Jamaica Stock Exchange, which brought together financial services industry players from around the world to examine and strategize on the sector’s most pressing topics and global trends.

The CSE’s Rob Cook, Senior Vice President of Market Development, enjoyed catching up with entrepreneurs, members of the capital markets, and our friends at the Jamaica Stock Exchange during this wonderful event.

Gwen Preston on The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast

The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast returned for a brand-new season this January.

In the inaugural episode, the CSE’s Anna Serin served as host for a special interview with Gwen Preston, Newsletter Writer and Mining News Blogger at Resource Maven, to discuss the mineral exploration and investment space.

Gwen Preston shared insights on what happened in the resources market in 2023; factors shaping current trends in the mining and exploration sector, including rate hikes, competition for speculative capital, and the impact of electrification; and her predictions for gold, uranium, and more.

Watch Now: Gwen Preston on Resource Trends for 2024

February Highlights

Despite being the shortest month of the year, we launched the 2024 Mining Issue of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine, attended exciting events, had our CSE-hosted VRIC panels featured on VRIC Media, and released two episodes of The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast, all this past February.

Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Mining Issue

To gear up for PDAC in March, we launched the 2024 Mining Edition of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

This issue offers insight into five CSE listed mining companies racing to unlock economic opportunities across North America as green becomes the new gold.

The CSE listed companies featured in this edition include:

Read Now: Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Mining Issue

The MicroCap Conference

We had an incredible time connecting with entrepreneurs and capital markets professionals at the Microcap Conference at the Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino in New Jersey on January 30-February 1, 2024. 

This three-day conference provided attendees with extensive networking activities, expert panel discussions around topics critical to the microcap community, and company presentations, along with an entertaining casino experience that made the most of the venue.

It was great to see all the CSE listed issuers in attendance at this incredible event put together by DealFlow Events!

Mines and Money Miami

On February 22-23, 2024, the CSE travelled to vibrant downtown Miami, Florida to attend Mines and Money Miami.

We enjoyed connecting with friends and colleagues in the North and Latin American mining finance ecosystem over two days of programming covering today’s most pressing topics, including junior mining companies’ role in securing critical mineral supply chains for the energy transition and the impact of legislation. 

Several CSE listed issuers also attended the event, including:

VRIC 2024’s CSE-Hosted Panel Replays

At VRIC 2024, we were proud to host two panels, which were moderated by the CSE’s Anna Serin, Director of Listings Development for Western Canada and U.S. & Vancouver Branch Lead. 

The first panel, “Beyond Borders: Navigating Cross-Border Capital and Liquidity Opportunities in Resource Companies,” featured the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO, and Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group.

Catch the replay on VRIC Media’s YouTube for insights into opportunities for raising capital beyond our borders, how the CSE works with the OTC to help Canadian companies access private placement capital in the U.S., and other considerations, including DTC eligibility, fungibility, and more.

Watch Now: Beyond Borders: Navigating Cross-Border Capital and Liquidity Opportunities in Resource Companies

The second panel, “Powering Tomorrow: Taking Stock of Global Lithium Supply in the Energy Revolution,” featured Jason Barnard, President and CEO of Foremost Clean Energy (CSE:FAT), and Scott Eldridge, CEO of United Lithium (CSE:ULTH).

Tune in to the replay on VRIC Media for an in-depth discussion on the interplay between lithium and electrification, the factors impacting lithium supply and demand, and shifting to domestic supply and processing in North America and Europe.

Watch Now: Powering Tomorrow: Taking Stock of Global Lithium Supply in the Energy Revolution

Jason Barnard and Scott Eldridge on The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast

Jason Barnard, President and CEO of Foremost Clean Energy (CSE:FAT), and Scott Eldridge, President and CEO of United Lithium (CSE:ULTH), joined Anna Serin once again for this year’s second episode of The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast.

Jason Barnard and Scott Eldridge discussed all things lithium, including factors impacting the electric vehicle market; global jurisdictions for mining and processing, including China’s involvement; the American Inflation Reduction Act and EU Critical Raw Materials Act; challenges with lithium extraction; and upcoming outlook.

Watch Now: Jason Barnard & Scott Eldridge on All Things Lithium | The CSE Podcast E2-S4

Thomas Caldwell’s 2024 Outlook on The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast

Thomas S. Caldwell, Chairman of Caldwell Securities, joined us for a special episode of The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast, where he shared his annual financial outlook for 2024, including predictions on key factors such as interest rates and equity markets, reasons for investor optimism, insight into the “special case” of Canada, and a snapshot of tech, energy, and more.

Watch Now: Thomas S. Caldwell’s Financial Outlook for 2024 | The CSE Podcast E3-S4

March Highlights

Back in March, we returned to PDAC for one of its best editions yet, held our International Women’s Day Market Open, and travelled across the United States for a number of fantastic events.

PDAC 2024

This year’s PDAC was one of the best yet. From posh parties to connecting with mining and capital markets leaders from all over the world, the CSE team had an amazing time taking in the full conference experience and engaging in all things mining and exploration. 

By the numbers, we had more CSE listed companies exhibiting at the Investors Exchange than ever before; attendance and engagement at our events was at an all-time high; and the continued popularity of our conference-related content reflects our ongoing commitment to showcasing the entrepreneurial spirit that permeates throughout the Exchange. 

Additionally, our role as an official media partner enabled us to distribute the Mining Issue of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine to our many booth visitors and to all convention attendees.

We look forward to returning again next year!

Read Now: Looking Back on a Successful PDAC 2024

The CSE’s PDAC Investor Luncheon

Our highly-anticipated CSE Investor Luncheon brought together various members of the investment, capital markets, and mineral exploration communities for a thrilling afternoon filled with company presentations, a special panel, and networking. 

The CSE’s Rob Cook, Senior Vice President of Market Development, emceed the pitch presentations, which featured several CSE listed issuers, including:

The presentations were followed by a special discussion, “Fact-and-Fiction – Short Selling in the Capital Markets,” with panelists Terry Lynch, Founder of Save Canadian Mining, and the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO.

We couldn’t have had such a successful luncheon without our sponsors, Computershare, DealMaker, MNP, Grove Corporate Services, Issuer Direct, ACCESSWIRE, Marrelli Trust Company Limited, Marrelli Support Services, DSA Corporate Services, Newsfile, Outlier Marketing, QuoteMedia, Independent Trading Group (ITG), and W.D. Latimer Co. Limited.

View The Album: CSE’s Annual PDAC Investor Luncheon 2024

Ringing the Bell for Gender Equality

The CSE was proud to participate in the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality 2024 initiative this International Women’s Day by hosting a special market open.

We welcomed delegates from Room Women’s Network and Caldwell Securities to ring in the market to promote gender equality and celebrate the power of women in business.

Watch Now: Ringing the Bell for Gender Equality at the CSE

The Capital Links at THE PLAYERS Investor Event

The Capital Links at THE PLAYERS Investor Event, hosted by Investor.Events, in Jacksonville, Florida was one “fore” the books. The CSE was proud to sponsor and attend this action-packed event on March 15-17.

Investors, finance professionals, funds and family offices, public issuers, and other members of the investment community came together for a full day of one-on-one meetings, followed by an exclusive networking experience at a special VIP Suite on Championship Sunday for THE PLAYERS Championship, “the PGA Players 5th Major,” at TPC Sawgrass.

Going Public and Raising Capital in Canada (Miami)

We were excited to return to the beautiful, sun-soaked Miami beachfront on March 18 for our Going Public and Raising Capital in Canada event, co-hosted by our event partner, Corporate Counsel LLP.

Richard Carleton and Michael Bluestein, Founding Partner of Corporate Counsel, gave a series of expert presentations exploring topics surrounding opportunities and strategies for successfully entering the public markets in Canada, followed by a networking reception.

The 36th Annual ROTH Conference

On March 17-19, the 36th Annual ROTH Conference, hosted by ROTH Capital Partners, returned at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in sunny Dana Point, California, and the CSE was proud to sponsor this invite-only event.

This exclusive event provided attendees with the renowned ROTH Conference experience and offered unique opportunities to meet with and learn from hundreds of private and public companies across a variety of sectors, including technology and media, sustainability and industrial growth, AgTech, energy, metals and mining, healthcare, and more. 

The CSE’s Anna Serin, Director of Listings Development for Western Canada and U.S. & Vancouver Branch Lead, presented on the “Benefits and Paths to Pursuing a Canada/U.S. Dual Listing” panel, which provided insights into the benefits and challenges of listing first in Canada, the differences between the U.S. and Canadian markets, and the process for pursuing a dual listing on NASDAQ, NYSE, or Cboe.

April Highlights

We’re continuing our rewind with our April event circuit, which took us to exciting locales across Canada and the U.S. to connect with colleagues from various industries.

Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference – Spring Edition

Back in April, we had a great time soaking up the sun in Hollywood, Florida at the spring edition of the renowned Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference

The schedule was packed with engaging content that provided a deep dive into all things cannabis, along with plenty of opportunities to catch up with new and familiar faces.

One of our favourite moments was hosting a sponsored cabana with ATACH at the Diplomat Beach Resort. Conversations were buzzing as we connected with our peers in the cannabis space over great food, refreshing drinks, and beautiful poolside scenery.

STANY’s 88th Annual Conference

We made our way to New York City for the 88th edition of STANY’s Annual Conference.

Along with engaging in fascinating conversations and exploring topical subject matter, including the impact of AI, sourcing liquidity in today’s markets, and the future of retail trading, the CSE also had a chance to share our insights at the “Navigating Canadian Markets” panel.

During this panel, the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO, joined Rizwan Awan, President of Equities Trading and Head of TMX Markets, Products & Services at TMX Group, and moderator, Shelley Eleby, Managing Director and Head of Marketing Electronic Trading at BMO Capital Markets, to dive into this important topic.

The 2024 KEG Conference & Trade Show

Our mining event circuit continued with the 2024 KEG Conference & Trade Show in Kamloops, BC, hosted by Kamloops Exploration Group.

We were proud to sponsor the event, including a special gold panning class with the famous Yukon Dan, and to connect with the mining and investment communities over an action-packed two days.

Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2024

It was a pleasure to wrap up our April event circuit at the famed Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino for the Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2024. 

Our team enjoyed connecting with the microcap community, taking in the always-entertaining thrills Vegas has to offer, and participating in insightful discussions. Plus, it was great to catch a presentation from CSE listed issuer, Foremost Clean Energy (CSE:FAT). 

We were proud to be a sponsor of the event and to share insights into how microcap companies can navigate the capital markets journey at the panel, “MicroCap Alternatives for Reducing Costs, Raising Capital, and Managing Liquidity in 2024,” where the CSE’s Anna Serin answered questions from moderator, Shelly Kraft from Planet MicroCap, alongside fellow panelists, Joe Alagna, Chairman & CEO at Joseph Gunnar & Co.; Joseph Oltmanns, Senior Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group; Jason Bishara, Financial Practice Leader at NSI Insurance Group; and Shawn Severson, CEO & Co-Founder at Water Tower Research.

Watch Now: PANEL: MicroCap Alternatives for Reducing Costs, Raising Capital, and Managing Liquidity in 2024

May Highlights

May 2024 was a historic month for the CSE: our 20th anniversary as an exchange! We commemorated this major milestone with special market opens and celebrations plus attended a key mining finance event.

Celebrating 20 Years as an Exchange

This year has been monumental for the Canadian Securities Exchange, as we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary as an exchange.

We published a special press release and an anniversary page on our website to commemorate this major milestone and look back on the past 20 years, starting from our origins in 2004 when the CSE was the first exchange to be recognized in Ontario in more than 80 years.

In the press release, the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO, shared his personal reflections on our journey, including what sets us apart, our team’s dedication, and the challenges we’ve faced along the way. 

We also highlighted some of our biggest achievements to date as one of the world’s fastest-growing exchanges, including more than $26 billion in public capital raised on the CSE, the creation of the Senior Tier, the launch of a second trading book called CSE2, the evolution of our brand, and more. 

Our success has fuelled the success of our listed companies, investors, dealers, and traders for two decades, and we’ve only just begun.

Learn More: Celebrating 20 Years as an Exchange

20th Anniversary Market Open in Toronto

To kickstart our 20th anniversary festivities, we held a special Market Open at our Toronto headquarters on May 7, 2024. Richard Carleton was joined by CSE team members and supporters to ring the bell and share memories and insights from the Exchange.

Watch Now: The CSE Rings the Bell Celebrating 20 Years as a Stock Exchange

20th Anniversary Celebration in Vancouver

Continuing the festivities, we held a 20th Anniversary Celebration in Vancouver, BC, where we shared memories with our friends and colleagues over great food at the fantastic Five Sails Restaurant. It was a wonderful time celebrating with everyone!

View The Album: CSE’s 20th Anniversary Celebration – Vancouver

SME’s 9th Current Trends in Mining Finance Conference

Amidst the festivities, the CSE attended SME‘s 9th Current Trends in Mining Finance Conference in New York City.

Not only did the event dive insightfully into today’s most pressing topics in the mining finance space, but it also provided Richard Carleton with the chance to share his expertise on two noteworthy occasions. 

The first was the “Capital Markets: Trends in Listings, Trading, and Investor Engagement” panel, where Richard was joined by John Viglotti and Jason Paltrowitz from OTC Markets Group, Jonathon Deluce from Abitibi Metals (CSE:AMQ), and Doug Porter from Fathom Nickel (CSE:FNI).

The second was an at-event interview with Mark Bunting from Red Cloud TV, in which Richard discussed mining investment trends, market challenges and opportunities, and accessing the U.S. capital pool.

Watch Now: RCTV Interview at SME New York 2024

June Highlights

In this edition, we’re reminiscing on June, where we continued our 20th anniversary celebrations, released a new podcast episode, became part of the World Federation of Exchanges, and exhibited at an AgTech event.

20th Anniversary Celebration in Toronto

During the summer, our 20th anniversary celebrations were in full swing. Following our Vancouver party, we hosted another in-person gathering for our friends and colleagues in Toronto at The Fifth Social Club. We had a wonderful time reminiscing at this stylish venue.

View The Album: CSE’s 20th Anniversary Celebration – Toronto

Chris King on The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast

In June, we welcomed Chris King, Senior Vice President, International Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group, to The Exchange for Entrepreneurs podcast, for an in-depth discussion about how to best leverage a Canadian listing through the facilities of the OTCQX and OTCQB markets.

Chris King’s insights included the benefits for CSE listed companies to quote on these markets, steps to prepare, the cost, reference clients, maximizing the quote, and more.

Watch Now: Chris King on Listing Local, Trading Global | The CSE Podcast E4-S4

The CSE Joins the World Federation of Exchanges

The CSE achieved another major milestone in June: our admittance into the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE)! 

Becoming a full member of the WFE, the flagship global industry association for regulated exchanges and clearing houses, comes with several benefits, including raising our international profile, enhancing the value of CSE issuers, and advancing our objective of facilitating global access to trading on the Exchange. 

To receive WFE membership, applicants need to demonstrate that they play a significant role in the financial markets of their country of origin and are serving a public good, among other requirements.
Thanks to the WFE leadership for approving our application, as well as its colleagues from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Warsaw Stock Exchange, and the B3 (Brazil Stock Exchange and Over-the-Counter Market), who conducted a detailed review of the application.

Read Now: Canadian Securities Exchange Receives Membership in the World Federation of Exchanges

Canada’s Farm Show

We capped off the month by returning to Canada’s Farm Show in Regina, Saskatchewan, on June 18-20, 2024.

As always, Viterra put on a great event that offered a deep and engaging dive into all things AgTech and the future of farming. It was fantastic to see such a large crowd of attendees from Canada and around the world, and it was a pleasure to welcome so many visitors to our booth at the Viterra International Trade Centre.

July Highlights

In this recap, we’re rewinding to July, an exciting month where we released the Cannabis Issue of our magazine, enjoyed our annual Calgary Stampede festivities, played golf at The CSE Open event, and continued our 20th anniversary celebrations in Vancouver.

Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Cannabis Issue

In June, we launched the latest Cannabis Issue of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine. This edition spotlights five cannabis companies gearing up to make the most of the coming opportunities with important regulatory change on the horizon.

The CSE listed companies featured in this issue include:

Read Now: Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Cannabis Issue

20th Anniversary Celebrations at the Calgary Stampede

We were delighted to don our cowboy hats once again at the world-famous Calgary Stampede this July.

Maintaining a long-running tradition, the CSE kicked off the Stampede with our annual Stampede Breakfast, complete with a steady supply of pancakes, country music, and lively discussions with friends and team members.

And to commemorate our 20th anniversary year, we filmed a short video starring the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO, who shared a brief history of the Exchange and highlighted the important role Western Canadian communities continue to play in supporting publicly funded entrepreneurs on the CSE.

Watch Now: The CSE Celebrates 20 Years at the Calgary Stampede

The CSE Open 2024 – Toronto

This July, we picked up our clubs and took to the great outdoors for our annual CSE Open at the Royal Ontario Golf Club in Toronto! 

Congratulations to Taylor Howie and Adrian Capobianco for winning this year’s event. Shout out to our partners and sponsors for helping to make this event a success and for raising funds in support of Centennial Infant and Child Centre Foundation and Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides. 

See you out on the green again next year!

View The Album: The CSE Open 2024 – Toronto

CSE 20th Anniversary Special Market Open in Vancouver

To further spotlight both our 20th anniversary and the integral role of Western Canada in the Exchange’s history, we held a special celebratory Market Open in Vancouver on July 2, 2024. Richard Carleton was joined by Anna Serin, Alexandra Cosgrove, and other members of the CSE Vancouver team to open the day’s trading session.

Watch Now: The CSE Rings the Vancouver Bell Celebrating 20 Years as a Stock Exchange

August Highlights

In August, we had the pleasure of co-hosting an exclusive summer mixer, attending and golfing at an annual conference, presenting at a critical minerals summit, and reflecting on a summer intern’s time with the Exchange. 

VanCap Rising Leaders Summer Mixer

The CSE teamed up with DuMoulin Black, MNP, and Market One to host our exclusive VanCap Rising Leaders Summer Mixer. 

We kicked off the event with a fireside chat featuring the legendary Terry Salman, one of Canada’s most dedicated philanthropists and a renowned figure in mining finance, who shared insights from his rich and varied 35-year career, followed by an afternoon of networking with peers in the capital markets over summery drinks and delicious snacks. 

VanCap Rising Leaders is a program designed for professionals in the capital markets to build their centre of influence, create deal-making opportunities, network, and develop personally. 

If you’re interested in becoming a member of the VanCap Rising Leaders program, please contact [email protected] to gain access to these exclusive events.

CSTA Annual Conference 2024

Nothing quite says summer at the CSE like a golf tournament. At the CSTA 2024 Annual Conference in Québec City, we had the chance to tee up while enjoying an engaging conference experience. 

Hosted by the Canadian Security Traders Association, this conference brought the capital markets community together for insightful presentations, networking opportunities, innovative exhibits, and enjoyable offsite events.

CMI Summit III

Keeping the momentum going with our August event schedule, we were pleased to sponsor and attend the Critical Minerals Institute’s CMI Summit III at the prestigious National Club in Toronto. 

It was great catching up with CSE listed mining issuers in attendance and our peers in the critical minerals space, including industry frontrunners, investors, and government representatives. Plus, the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO, was presented on behalf of the Exchange.

Interview With a Summer CSE Intern Alum

To help future leaders in the capital markets get first-hand experience, the CSE proudly welcomes interns and co-op students to the Exchange, and we’ve seen many alums go on to have thriving careers.

This past summer, one of our interns, Ethan, sat down with us to reflect on his experience with the CSE before heading back to university. Enjoy this brief interview to learn what a typical intern’s experience is like with us.

What key skills or knowledge did you develop during your internship, and how do you think they will benefit your future career?

During my time at the CSE, I picked up many useful skills and learned a lot about how capital markets work. One of the biggest things I improved on was my ability to make smart decisions based on data analysis and market research. These skills, along with the experiences I had, will most definitely help me tackle bigger and more challenging projects in the future. From this term, I managed to develop a greater understanding of the industry and feel more confident in my ability to think critically and strategically about market trends and challenges.

Can you share a specific project or task that challenged you the most, and how you overcame it?

I had the chance to work on a lot of fascinating projects, but the toughest one was doing a market analysis of the Borsa Istanbul exchange to see if the Turkish mining sector was worth expanding into. For this, I had to analyze the performance of the BIST 100 and BIST Mining Indices, study the Turkish mining industry, and figure out how Turkey’s economy and politics would affect the market. Although this was my first time completing such tasks, I managed to successfully form an end of term presentation that I would later present.

How has your understanding of the stock exchange industry evolved since you started this internship?

Before this internship, I had a basic understanding of stock exchanges. I knew why companies go public and how investors make money, but I didn’t really get how stock exchanges worked behind the scenes. After my time at the CSE, especially thanks to all the lunch-and-learn sessions, I learned how exchanges make money, the rules companies need to follow, and the whole process of going public.

What advice would you offer future interns?

My biggest advice to future interns would be to always look for chances to learn from everyone you meet. Whether you’re chatting with colleagues or just bumping into people in the elevator, you can pick up new insights everywhere. The faster you embrace that mindset, the more you’ll learn.

Any memorable moments or highlights from your time with the Listings Development Group?

One of the best moments for me was helping set up and attend the CSE’s 20th anniversary party. It was awesome to be part of something so meaningful for the exchange. I got to meet a bunch of CEOs from companies listed on the exchange and heard some great advice from tenured capital market professionals. It was definitely an unforgettable experience.

September Highlights

September was filled with travel across North America. Some of the highlights included the CSE team heading back to Beaver Creek, Colorado for the renowned Precious Metals Summit; dropping anchor in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia to host another segment of our successful Going Public and Raising Capital in Canada series; swinging over to scenic West Vancouver to enjoy some picture perfect putting, and more. 

Precious Metals Summit Beaver Creek

There was more than gold, silver and platinum on the docket as the CSE team travelled to beautiful Beaver Creek, Colorado on September 10-13 for the renowned Precious Metals Summit. 

This exclusive independent investment conference, brought together explorers, developers, and emerging producers of gold, silver, and platinum group metals alongside investors, and executives from senior precious metals companies.

It was great to connect and spend time with the mining and investment communities and exhibiting CSE listed issuers:

Plus, you can’t beat the breathtaking Colorado mountain views and the legendary culinary skills of the CSE team. Until next year!

View The Album: Precious Metals Summit – Beaver Creek 2024

Going Public and Raising Capital in Canada: Halifax Event

In mid-September, Going Public and Raising Capital in Canada was back for the second time this year, and the CSE was excited to host this edition in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO, and Scott Pritchard, Senior Advisor of Listings Development for Québec & Eastern Canada, had a wonderful time presenting to the capital markets community and catching up with friends old and new at the Muir Hotel. 

It was also a pleasure to welcome expert speakers on Canada’s public markets:

Thanks again to our sponsors, MNP, Computershare, Lebeuf Legal, and Laurel Hill Advisory Group. We look forward to the next iteration of our Going Public and Raising Capital in Canada events!

The CSE Open 2024 Vancouver

We enjoyed closing out summer at The CSE Open 2024 Vancouver on September 19 at the Gleneagles Golf Course in West Vancouver. 

It was a fantastic day of golf with friends and colleagues. Not only did we get to work on our swings and enjoy the stunning West Vancouver views, but this event also raised money in support of Family Services of the North Shore. The CSE Open Vancouver edition was made possible by generous supporters including premier sponsor, DuMoulin Black; putting contest sponsor, Investor.Events; and event sponsors, Torrey Hills Capital, Endeavor Trust, Haywood Securities, MNP, Purves Redmond Limited, Market One Media, Dog and Pony Studios, and CEO.CA.

STA’s 91st Annual Market Structure Conference

The Security Traders Association’s Annual Market Structure Conference was back for its 91st edition this September, and the CSE was proud to sponsor and attend this classic STA event.

Set in sunny Orlando, Florida, this year’s conference explored typical and atypical forces impacting our market structure and the need for proactive adaptation under the theme of “Shifting the Landscape.”

We also enjoyed the many networking opportunities, including poolside sessions, a cabana event, and a golf tournament.

ArcStone-Kingswood Growth Summit 2024

To cap off a productive September, we attended and sponsored the ArcStone-Kingswood Growth Summit in Toronto.

This premier growth conference offered growing companies a space to explore listings on prominent U.S. and Canadian exchanges while providing a platform to discuss potential opportunities with investors. Plus, this year was also packed with panel discussions and presentations from companies across a range of sectors, including metals and mining, AI, and wellness.

October Highlights

In this edition, we’re looking back on October when we biked for a good cause, rang the bell for financial literacy, welcomed a mining delegation from Saudi Arabia, and attended several key industry events in Toronto, New York City and Chicago. 

Bay Street Rides FAR

Members of the CSE team had a fantastic time participating at Bay Street Rides FAR 2024, part of the Rides FAR initiative, in downtown Toronto on October 5.

This fun and impactful day of biking and walking was for an important cause: raising money needed to further autism research and increase awareness. With the generous help of our community, we were able to raise $3,500 for Autism Science Foundation Canada. 

We’re appreciative of everyone who sponsored our team and to Independent Trading Group (ITG), Caldwell Securities, and Purves Redmond Limited for their support.

View The Album: Bay Street Rides FAR 2024

The CSE Rings the Bell for Financial Literacy

On October 7, 2024, special guest Elizabeth Naumovski, host of EMPOWERED, joined the CSE to celebrate World Investor Week and “Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy,” in association with the World Federation of Exchanges and IOSCO‘s campaign to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection.

View The Album: CSE Rings the Bell for Financial Literacy – October 7th, 2024

Red Cloud Fall Mining Showcase

As always, we had a fantastic time at the Red Cloud Fall Mining Showcase 2024, presented in partnership with PearTree, at the Sheraton in Toronto’s financial district.

In addition to sponsoring this dynamic event, we enjoyed connecting with members of the mining and investment communities, as well as catching a presentation by CSE listed issuer, Fathom Nickel (CSE:FNI).

The Exchange Welcomes Mining Delegation From Saudi Arabia

The CSE had the pleasure of hosting a prestigious mining delegation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia earlier this month, a special occasion which culminated in a bell-ringing ceremony at our market centre in Toronto.

This event allowed Canadian mining professionals to connect with Saudi leaders and was aligned with the country’s economic transformation plan, Vision 2030, with mining as a key pillar of industrial growth.

Watch Now: The Exchange Welcomes Mining Delegation From Saudi Arabia

Global Markets Forum

We were pleased to sponsor and attend the Global Markets Forum, in partnership with Aquis Stock Exchange, First Sentinel, and OTC Markets Group, at the OTCQX Market Center in New York City.

This premier event featured presentations from leading Canadian, U.S., and U.K. public growth companies, insights from industry experts, panel discussions with key market participants, and one-on-one meetings with C-suite executives.

Plus, the following CSE listed issuers delivered presentations:

Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference

It was great to be back at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference for its fall edition in Chicago, Illinois.

We caught up with our friends and colleagues in the cannabis and capital markets communities, and several CSE listed companies had the chance to take the spotlight, including:

November Highlights

November was a month full of milestone moments, including the launch of the CleanTech Issue of our magazine, the return of the Summit on Responsible Investment, our first-ever WFE General Assembly and Annual Meeting, and more.

Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The CleanTech Issue

This November, we were proud to launch the CleanTech Issue of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine. 

In this issue, we feature six CleanTech companies whose solutions are proving what’s possible in the quest for improved wellbeing of people and planet: 

Plus, we’ve included exclusive 20th anniversary interviews with Richard Carleton, CEO of the CSE, and senior leaders at the Exchange.

Read Now: Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The CleanTech Issue

Summit on Responsible Investment Video Series

After a successful in-person debut in 2023, the CSE was pleased to launch the 2024 installment of the Summit on Responsible Investment (SoRI) as an online series, which dives into the intersection of investing and sustainability. 

Tune in to learn about the future of sustainable mining, botanical synthesis technology, ESG from a mining lens, fintech and sustainable investing, and many more fascinating topics.

Watch Now: Summit on Responsible Investment 2024

WFE General Assembly and Annual Meeting

We were honoured to have CSE’s Richard Carleton and Tracey Stern represent the CSE in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the 63rd General Assembly and Annual Meeting of the World Federation of Exchanges, hosted by Bursa Malaysia.

It was a great milestone for the Exchange to participate and a genuine pleasure to join fellow exchange executives and industry leaders from across the globe to discuss important trends and developments impacting the public capital markets. 

Richard also participated in the panel discussion, “Beyond the Monopoly Myth: Rethinking Competition in Financial Markets,” alongside industry leaders from Ghana, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico.

View The Album: WFE General Assembly and Annual Meeting

Richard Carleton Interviewed by Planet MicroCap

At the Planet MicroCap Showcase: VANCOUVER 2024, in association with Smallcap Discoveries, Robert Kraft, CEO and Host of Planet MicroCap, interviewed Richard Carleton for the virtual keynote, “Utilizing Canada to Access North American & Global Pools of Capital.” 

During this exclusive interview, Richard discussed the state of the markets for microcap companies, public markets versus private equity, active sectors on the Exchange, and the strategy of utilizing Canadian markets to access North American and global pools of capital and how the CSE is uniquely positioned in this space.

Watch Now: KEYNOTE: Utilizing Canada to Access North American & Global Pools of Capital with Richard Carleton

December Highlights

As 2024 comes to a close, so does our year-end rewind. Thank you for not only following our journey through the months but for following our journey as an exchange over the past 20 years. 

While we look ahead to what will surely be an eventful 2025, join us in looking back at one final month: December. Earlier this month, we attended MJBizCon 2024, headed to the U.K. for key mining events, and released our annual year-end interview with our CEO, Richard Carleton.

Please enjoy this final installment of our monthly highlights and from everyone here at the CSE, we wish you and your loved ones Happy Holidays!

MJBizCon 2024

It was great to be back in Las Vegas for the renowned cannabis event, MJBizCon.

Hosted by MJBizDaily, this event brought together thousands of global cannabis executives and featured notable speakers, like Carmelo Anthony, who shared insights and perspectives on the cannabis industry. 

This inspirational-filled conference featured important topics such as understanding the impact of AI on consumers, empowering women entrepreneurs, and navigating the regulatory landscape.

The CSE’s Dimitri Giller, Director of Listed Company Services, also enjoyed connecting with capital markets and cannabis community members alike.

Meeting the Mining Community in the United Kingdom

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve international access to the Exchange, the CSE’s James Black, Vice President of Listings Development, and Phillip Shum, Director of Listings Development, headed to London, U.K. for two key mining-related events. 

The first was the International Metals Symposium, presented by The Northern Miner, an event the CSE also sponsored. Here, we were able to engage in fascinating discussions surrounding mining and investment, including topics such as ESG and decarbonization.

Closely following the International Metals Symposium, we headed to Mines and Money @ Resourcing Tomorrow, one of Europe’s largest mining investment events. It was great connecting with the global mining and capital markets communities.

Plus, there were many CSE listed issuers in attendance:

Overall, our trip to the U.K. proved valuable, and we are looking forward to future travels to the region.

Saskatchewan Geological Open House

In December, our conference circuit also included events closer to home, such as the Saskatchewan Geological Open House in Saskatoon. 

As the premier annual event for mining and mineral exploration companies active in the province, we enjoyed drilling down into insightful technical sessions as well as connecting with mining and mineral exploration professionals at this year’s show.

Richard Carleton’s Year-End 2024 Interview 

This year has been an eventful one for the Exchange. We celebrated our 20th anniversary as an exchange, undertook policy and other adjustments to business lines, and joined an important global organization for exchanges, among other significant milestones. 

With 2025 just around the corner, the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO, shares his thoughts on Canadian market performance during 2024, the outlook for the year ahead, and previews important new initiatives that issuers and investors will surely want to take note of.

Read Now: Richard Carleton’s Year-End 2024 Interview

CSE Performance

Year-End 2023 Interview with Canadian Securities Exchange CEO Richard Carleton

It was a tale of two stock markets in 2023, with large-cap indices nearing record highs, while the shares of smaller companies struggled to find steady footing. Ongoing geopolitical uncertainty didn’t help, but if one had to name a single factor explaining the divergent performance, most observers would point to interest rates, which have surged manyfold from their pandemic trough that ended in the latter half of 2021.

History suggests that small-cap companies will again have their day in the sun. Reasons for optimism include expectations for a softening interest rate environment and the undeniable global trend toward greater electrification, which will continue to present opportunities to companies of all sizes. As is always the case with financial markets, timing is the hardest thing to predict.

Through all of this, the Canadian Securities Exchange maintained steady growth in its issuer base in 2023, while also introducing important changes to listings policies, margin eligibility, and its visual brand.

In a late-November discussion, CSE Chief Executive Officer Richard Carleton offered his perspective on markets at home and abroad, as well as his outlook for 2024, as the Exchange gets ready to mark a particularly important milestone.

Every year is different for the capital markets and in 2023 it was the interest rate environment that took centre stage. How would you characterize the capital markets in 2023 based on your interaction with issuers and others in the financial community?

It’s a tricky question and my initial reaction is that it was unprecedented, difficult, and a little strange — these are the words that come to mind. The first big issue is a lack of trading activity in all of Canada’s public markets, but particularly in the junior capital markets. The last time we saw turnover levels this low was 10 years ago. It has been a significant decline given that we were at record levels only two years ago, which was the height of the pandemic. To see declines in overall trading activity on the order of 70% to 80% is something that in my career, which dates back some 35 years in the capital markets, is unprecedented.

I think it’s fair to say that the interest rate environment and the overall economy is likely the culprit. As we know, retail investor participation is very important, particularly for the junior capital side of the markets, and there is a lot of pressure on Canadian families from an inflation perspective, housing costs, mortgage renewals, and so on. So, I think we are seeing that decrease in activity as a result.

That said, there are reasons for tremendous optimism because we have had many new companies access public capital through the Canadian Securities Exchange over the course of the year. We are not at the record levels we saw in 2021 or 2022 in terms of new companies coming to market, but we are still going to see roughly 100 companies list in 2023, which is extraordinary growth.

There has been a significant shift in the nature of those companies. In the last couple of years, we have seen a lot of investment in battery, strategic, and critical minerals, which are principally lithium, graphite, copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc, and rare earth elements.

This obviously takes place in anticipation that as the economy further electrifies and we bring new battery plants into production, there will be considerable demand for all of these minerals. Given the lack of new capacity brought on line for these minerals over the past 20 or 30 years, the belief is that there is a tremendous opportunity for Canadian companies, whether they are mining in Canada or internationally, to fill that demand.

So, as I say, we are in this kind of strange situation where we have a very robust listings pipeline and new listings cohort from 2023, but at the same time, we see participation rates and asset valuation levels that are disappointing and somewhat frustrating for company management teams.

You just described a year that had as many challenges as opportunities, yet the CSE is on pace for an impressive number of new listings across a wide variety of business sectors. What enabled the CSE to perform so well?

We attract the majority of new companies coming into Canada’s public marketplace at this time. There are a number of reasons for this, but I think that the most important factor is the excellent working relationship our listings regulation team has built up over the years with entrepreneurs and their legal, accounting, and investment banking advisors. 

People feel very comfortable working with the team, and I believe there is also an appreciation for the opportunities we provide through our listings development group to help showcase the unique stories of our issuers to a marketplace that, as I say, is challenging at the moment. So, it’s really both as the company lists on the CSE, and then as they look to grow in part through a relationship with the CSE, that we have an opportunity to help our issuers achieve their goals.

The CSE underwent a significant visual rebrand in 2023 that brought with it a new slogan: Always Invested. Why was now the right time and what does the refreshed brand represent?

I’d say there are two things. The first is that we have been involved with our partners at the securities commissions on a rebuild of our listings policies, really for the first time in the 20-year existence of the organization. There are significant changes to both tighten up the requirements for all companies listed on the exchange, as well as the creation of a senior tier which will enable us to regulate larger, more mature companies on a similar basis as they would be on larger exchanges in North America.

With that was really the recognition that we have moved past the start-up phase and are now a material part of Canada’s public markets. The visual identity of the brand is meant to convey our evolution. The logo is bold with forward momentum, it represents stability and, to a smaller degree, modernization and disruption. 

The slogan “Always Invested” is a promise to our customers and partners. A promise that we will always be invested in quality service and the future of efficient public capital markets. 

Was the decision to look at the listings policies mostly an internal one or did the broader financial community influence it as well?

The drive to update the listings policies came from a number of sources. We had feedback from the entrepreneurial, legal, and audit communities in terms of where our policies should be headed. And we work very closely with the regulators in terms of supporting investor protection and promoting capital formation and liquid markets through availability of information on companies.

We concluded that we could do a number of things to update the approach we have taken from when the listings manual was first drafted in 2003. So, with the benefit of 20 years of experience and feedback from various stakeholders, it was time to make significant changes.

The CSE will reach its 20th year as a recognized exchange in May 2024. You must already be planning a celebration of this milestone. What is in store and what can issuers and investors expect from the CSE in the next 20 years?

The first question is the easiest in that we are certainly looking to mark the event, but in ways that are sensitive to the difficult financing conditions many of our issuers are finding. Of course, times are challenging also for the investment dealers who we work with on the corporate finance and trading sides. So, I wouldn’t expect anything too over the top, but it is important that we celebrate the milestone because it is significant. 

I like to tell entrepreneurs when they are considering working with the CSE that we are an exchange that has experienced many of the same challenges and triumphs as a company that they are going through: we were a start-up that initially struggled to find an audience for its services, went through multiple pivots as we looked to find our way in an intensely competitive market, had to raise capital during very difficult market conditions but ultimately succeeded by never losing sight of our goal, which is to build a great exchange. We will be celebrating these achievements next year as we reach our 20th year as an exchange. 

As for the next 20 years, that’s a really good question. There has been a lot of criticism of traditional finance models from our peers in the crypto world: they are looking to decentralize trading facilities and disintermediation of service providers like traditional brokers, custodians, clearing agencies, and the like. From my perspective, the system we collectively operate for access to trading and capital through the traditional stock market environment has evolved to respond to a series of challenges over many years. It is actually very robust.

All of the systems and processes that had to be re-invented for crypto trading are already deeply baked into the investor protection and business processes that we have in what they call the legacy or “centralized finance” world, as the crypto community sometimes refers to it. 

My point is that the exchange trading environment is likely to look an awful lot like it does now, with more technology applications eliminating the remaining manual processes from the trading world, and facilitating the availability of better and more timely information for investors.

A visit to Australia earlier in the year brought the opportunity for new perspective on a capital market that is often compared to Canada’s. What can you tell us about the market there and the ambitions of the local financial community?

What’s interesting is that before we left for Australia, and since we returned, I saw articles in the Canadian business press suggesting that Australia is eating Canada’s lunch when it comes to embracing and supporting the new generation of companies in the strategic minerals space. When we were in Australia, we saw opinions expressed in the local financial press that Canada was eating Australia’s lunch when it came to supporting the investment and development of companies in the strategic minerals space. I’m not sure who is right or wrong, but clearly there is a difference of opinion on the point!

It’s clear that Canadian mining companies have been looking for capital from the Australian market. It appears that there are a number of Australian funds that are prepared to invest in relatively early-stage exploration companies, and also that companies from the CSE, and Canada in general, have had some success in raising capital from Australian investors.

The window seems very tight for raising additional money here in Canada so when a couple of Canadian companies had success in Australia, others followed that lead and attempted to replicate their experience.

From our perspective, we are looking to remove as many barriers and costs as we can for companies on the CSE to raising capital in Australia, and will support CSE-listed issuers seeking admission to the ASX in any way that we can.

Staying with the mining theme, can you share your thoughts with us on the sector’s outlook for 2024?

It is clear that good projects across a wide range of potential minerals are getting funding and entering the public markets. They are able to raise that first round of investment to support the first phase of exploration.

The new issuers from 2021 and 2022 that now have a season of drilling under their belts have been generating some positive reports. Normally, you would expect to see positive price performance, but for some reason, we are not seeing it. As a result, when companies raise their second round, the funding is dilutive for their original investors because the transaction is conducted at the previous issue price, or even lower for some of them.

This is a challenge and a source of some frustration for the industry. That said, we continue to see good projects come to the CSE and there is an extensive pipeline of companies preparing to come to market in 2024.

I hope and expect that with a return to more normal levels of retail participation as interest rates begin to come down in 2024, which I think is a near certainty, you will see the cycle happen where the management teams that successfully advance projects are rewarded with better market valuations and are able to raise significant additional funds at higher prices.

The cannabis sector has gone through some adjustment of late. What has been the CSE’s experience and have you had any feedback from cannabis issuers that stands out in your mind?

Cannabis issuers in many respects are very similar to those in the mining sector right now in that there is a degree of frustration from company management over lack of support in the secondary market as far as asset valuation goes.

We have a number of companies listed on the CSE which continue to build market share in the United States, and there continue to be new states that legalize for adult recreational purposes, which opens up new markets for these companies.

But it appears that the investment community is focused on legislative progress toward either rescheduling of cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III substance, which could result in significant tax relief for companies in the United States, or toward some form of outright legalization for adult recreational purposes on the Federal level.

As a result of these challenges with their equity market valuation, many of the larger companies are raising debt capital by either mortgaging tangible assets or securing lines of credit through the significant cash flow a few of these larger companies are generating. It is a very challenging time for these companies and my hope is that we begin to see more institutional participation and more long-term investors with a sophisticated understanding of the prospects and outlook for these companies. That should create the conditions for better price performance that recognizes the progress that many of them have made over the last five years.

In June, CSE issuers became eligible for margin following a decision by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization. How have issuers benefited since that decision was made?

It’s a benefit that flows to the investment dealers when they hold CSE securities in their own names on an overnight basis. The changes mean that, for eligible securities, they don’t have to take 100 cents on the dollar as a capital hit and will see significant reductions on that charge against their firm’s regulatory capital.

I know that sounds like deep inside baseball, but the practical benefit for an issuer is that it can significantly decrease the dealer’s cost of conducting an offering on behalf of the issuer. For many of these companies, the dealer will hold the stock in its inventory for a significant period of time. It is very expensive if they are tying up regulatory capital to hold that position.

This change should, and will, facilitate a lower cost of capital for CSE issuers.

It is always up to the investment dealer to determine if they will permit a client to hold a security in a margin account; the regulatory change does not mean that CSE securities will become eligible for margin accounts. Investors will have to ask their dealer about the issue. 

We took a 20-year look forward earlier in the discussion. Let’s shorten the timeline and conclude with your thoughts on what the CSE plans to achieve in 2024.

We’re deep in the planning stages of our forecast, our budget, and the strategic plan for 2024, and there are a few things I would highlight.

We saw tremendous growth in our staff complement in 2023 as we powered up to service our ever-growing issuer population and to administer many of the new listings policies implemented over the course of the year. We should be quiet on the “new hires” front in 2024.

There will be demand for new capital from the mining companies, in particular, who joined the Exchange over the last three years. The CSE will do what we can to assist these companies in reaching sources of capital in Canada, the U.S., and overseas. We’ve talked in past years about the preferred access Canadian public companies have to the U.S. capital markets; I believe that the U.S. could be an important source of capital for the CSE’s mining issuers in the coming years. We also want to work with the industry to assist them in any way we can to engage with a younger generation of investors looking to support the energy transition through their investment portfolios. 

Overall, we are being quite conservative in our expectations for trading and new listings in the coming year. I personally believe that interest rates will come down sooner and faster than the broader consensus, but that probably isn’t a sound basis for us to be doing our financial planning for the year! What I am certain of is that when rates do begin to come down, there will be more robust trading volumes across the markets. It is my hope that investors take the time to get to know the issuer classes of 2022 and 2023 a little better as they come back to the market.

CSE Performance

2023 Year-End Rewind

Throughout December, we’re looking back on the year and sharing our favourite highlights from each month. To kick things off, we’re rewinding to January, when we attended a renowned mining event and published a special edition of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

January Highlights

Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC)

On January 29–30, the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC), produced by Cambridge House International, made its highly-anticipated return.

In the lead up to the conference, we had the honour of speaking with Jay Martin, President and CEO of Cambridge House, on a special episode of The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast. Jay Martin spoke with us about the importance of reviving VRIC as an in-person event, his investor newsletter, and engaging with capital markets discourse from all sides. 

You can watch the episode here.

Following this insightful discussion, we were eager to connect with and learn from the many thought leaders, companies, investors, peers, friends, and colleagues in the mining space who attended this renowned conference.

Several CSE-listed issuers also exhibited at the event, including:

To close out VRIC, we held our Cross-Border Networking Reception, in collaboration with our event partners, OTC Markets, Odyssey Trust, MNP, Investing News Network, DealMaker, Grove Corporate Services, and Bennett Jones.

It was great to connect with friends old and new and to gain fresh industry insights. We hope to see everyone again at VRIC 2024!

View the album: Cross-Border Networking Reception

Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Mining Issue (VRIC Edition)

In preparation for VRIC, we published  and distributed a special edition of the 2023 Mining Issue of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

This issue, which offered a preview of the full edition published in March, highlights the stories of six companies boldly leaning into world-class opportunities within the context of rising interest in gold and battery metals. 

Companies featured in this edition include:

  • Irving Resources (CSE:IRV)
  • Li-FT Power
  • Relevant Gold
  • Snowline Gold
  • Tantalex Lithium Resources (CSE:TTX)
  • Western Uranium & Vanadium (CSE:WUC)

Read now: Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Mining Issue (VRIC Edition)

February Highlights

Ray Williams on The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast

In honour of Black History Month, we had the pleasure of speaking with Ray Williams, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Financial Markets at National Bank Financial, on the Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast. 

This special episode delivers a fascinating look at the importance and limitations of Black History Month, the opportunities and benefits of furthering diversity on both a human and economic level, and the legacy of 100 Strong and Black Opportunity Fund, which both champion Black individuals to succeed in Canada. 

Notably, this discussion provides a prompt for executives and investors alike to ask themselves the question of whether they’re doing enough to investigate, encourage, and mentor talent from all backgrounds and to best position their firms for the greatest success.

Watch now: Ray Williams on “Capitalizing” on Diversity | The CSE Podcast Ep7-S3

PreDAC Vancouver & Toronto 

Leading up to the renowned PDAC Convention, organized by Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, we teamed up with Investor.Events to host PreDAC Vancouver and PreDAC Toronto. 

Our highly-anticipated mining industry networking events were a great success, with the Toronto session knocking attendance out of the park as a sold-out event.

We enjoyed connecting with friends old and new for two exciting afternoons filled with pitches, industry insights, presentations, networking, and great company.

Enjoy reminiscing with these photo highlight albums from each event!

View the albums: PreDAC Vancouver 2023 & PreDAC Toronto 2023

March Highlights

PDAC Convention & PDAC Investor Luncheon

Organized by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, the PDAC Convention has been the world’s premier mineral exploration and mining convention for over 90 years. With our strong connection to the mining industry, the CSE was proud to attend, exhibit, and be a media partner at this world-renowned event.

Throughout this four-day event, there was a high volume of activity, including fascinating programming, exhibits, and extensive networking opportunities with leaders in the mineral exploration and mining sectors. Along with connecting with attendees at our booth on the exhibition floor, we produced and provided mining-focused content, and distributed free copies of the mining edition of our magazine.

It was a thrill to connect with CSE-listed mining companies and to host our Investor Luncheon, which featured a keynote address from Mr. Peter Kent, former Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Canada, former Member of Parliament, and current ; rapid-fire pitch presentations; and was sponsored by MNP, DSA Corporate Services, Marrelli Support Services, Investor.Events, BTV, INN, Market One, Newsfile, Purves Redmond, W.D. Latimer, Vested, and SmallCap Communications.

We’re looking forward to next year’s convention!

View the album: PDAC Investor Luncheon

Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Mining Issue

Expanding on the VRIC edition, we launched the full version of the 2023 Mining Issue of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine, in conjunction with PDAC. 

This edition offers insight into mining companies that are reaching far corners of the globe, from Japan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in light of rising interest in gold and battery metals, including:

  • Irving Resources (CSE:IRV)
  • Li-FT Power
  • Relevant Gold
  • Snowline Gold
  • Tantalex Lithium Resources (CSE:TTX)
  • Western Uranium & Vanadium (CSE:WUC). 

In addition to featuring these fascinating stories and perspectives, the full edition spotlights the CSE’s Anna Serin, Director of Listings Development Western Canada and US and Vancouver Branch Lead, who shares her family connection to the mining space.

Read now: Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Mining Issue

April Highlights

Senior Tier Launch

This April, we were proud to announce a major policy update at the Exchange, which included the launch of our long-awaited Senior Tier. 

The CSE received final approval from the Ontario Securities Commission and British Columbia Securities Commission to materially revise its listing policies. These amendments create a level playing field with other exchanges, ushering in a new era at the CSE.

With a strengthened competitive environment for issuers, enhanced investor confidence, and greater accessibility to a broader range of institutional investors, this was a defining moment for issuers, investors, and the CSE team.

Read Now: Updated Policies for Canadian Securities Exchange Usher in New Era for Exchange and its Stakeholders

Growing Steady

We were proud to announce record growth numbers in our March market statistics, released on April 18, 2023. Not only did we see 30 new corporate listings in the first quarter of the year, but we also saw eight IPOs, proving the CSE remains the IPO destination of choice for emerging corporate issuers.

These growth numbers were a fantastic milestone to cap off the start of 2023 and set the pace for the months ahead.

Read now: Canadian Securities Exchange Reports March 2023 Performance Figures

May Highlights

Welcoming New Members to the CSE Team

Change has certainly been a central theme at the CSE this year. At the start of 2023, we had the pleasure of welcoming two new members to our management team: Tracey Stern and Stuart Schady.        

Tracey Stern, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, has had an extensive career as a senior market regulator with the Ontario Securities Commission and as a chief compliance officer with a Canadian investment dealer. In her new role, Tracey is supporting the continuing evolution of the CSE as a leading exchange for global entrepreneurial companies.

Stuart Schady, Vice President of Trading & Market Data Services, assumed his new role after three years at the CSE as Director of Business Development in the Trading & Market Data Services Group, with previous experience in various roles in global financial services. In his new role, Stuart is bringing his impressive focus on service and his knowledge of the ever-evolving trading landscape.

Read Now: Canadian Securities Exchange Announces Executive Appointments

In the spring, we were thrilled to welcome Melissa Robertson, who joined as our Listings Development, Events & Content Manager, and Dimitri Giller, our new Director of Listed Company Services, to the CSE team.

With his experience and knowledge in the tech space, Dimitri was featured in the 2023 Technology Issue of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine, which would be released in June. In this interview, he shares his journey to the CSE and his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities tech companies are facing today.

Read now: Spotlight on Dimitri Giller

SME’s Current Trends in Mining: Richard Carleton Interview

Richard Carleton, CSE CEO, was interviewed at SME’s Current Trends in Mining Conference in New York City by Mark Bunting from Red Cloud TV.

During this fascinating interview, Richard discussed the CSE’s differentiators and successes in the mining sector, saying “We’ve been very successful in the mining space over the last 12 months. Roughly 80 companies or so have joined the Exchange from the mining sector.”

Richard also shared his uniquely positioned insights into trends in critical and precious metals, liquidity and OTC markets, and more.

Watch now: RCTV | Canadian Securities Exchange On-Site SME New York

June Highlights

Margin Eligibility Announcement

In June, we were proud to announce that, under the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization’s margin eligibility rule, the CSE was identified as an “acceptable exchange.” This decision applied immediately to all CSE-listed securities.

Margin eligibility has ushered in significant benefits for CSE-listed securities, including enhanced liquidity and reduced financing costs, and has served to make the Exchange a more attractive home for potential issuers.

We are pleased to be able to meet the ever-evolving needs of companies listed with us.

Read Now: Canadian Securities Exchange Securities Eligible for Margin

Summit on Responsible Investment

On June 27, we hosted the first-ever Summit on Responsible Investment in Kelowna. Our socially responsible investing and environmental, social, and governance event brought together a considerable crowd of professionals from a diverse range of industries for a day packed with presentations, panel discussions, company spotlights, networking, and exhibiting.

The event was a resounding success, thanks in no small part to all of our guests, presenters, collaborators, and sponsors, MNP LLP, Dentons, Odyssey Trust, Socialsuite, Business Television (BTV), irlabs, Accelerate Okanagan, and Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission. Plus, attendees raised over $6,000 for the Central Okanagan Food Bank to help combat food insecurity in Kelowna and West Kelowna.

We are excited to bring the Summit back by popular demand in 2024. In the meantime, replays of each session are available free to watch on CSE TV.

Watch now: Summit on Responsible Investment Playlist

Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Technology Issue

At the end of the month, we published the 2023 Technology Issue of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine. With widespread advancements and numerous opportunities in technology, such as the public release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and its rapid growth to 100 million users in just two months, this issue was exceptionally relevant for investors, entrepreneurs, and the over 100 CSE-listed companies in the technology space.

In this issue, we took a deep dive into the stories of six companies that are getting ahead of the curve with innovations to solve tomorrow’s problems today, from emergency communications to plant-derived nutraceuticals to cryptocurrency forensics.

The CSE-listed companies featured in this issue include:

Read now: Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Technology Issue

July Highlights

Summer Networking

The CSE had an action-packed summer filled with great company, new connections, and incredible sightseeing.

We kicked off our summer event circuit by hosting our first-ever SunDAC mining networking event in June, co-hosted by Grove Corporate Services, Newsfile, and OCI Group, and sponsored by enPercept. It was a delight to have Zero Zero Pizza as our venue and to catch up with friends and contacts we reconnected with at this year’s PDAC Convention over delicious food and great drinks.

We also had a great time donning our cowboy hats and catching up with old and new friends in Calgary for our annual Stampede festivities, including pancake breakfasts, a CSE-hosted reception, and boot scootin’ parties.

Thank you to everyone who attended SunDAC and joined us on the Stampede grounds. We look forward to another summer of networking in 2024!

August Highlights

The CSE Open

In August, we hosted the 2023 CSE Open, which brought together friends and colleagues for a fun day of golf at the scenic Wooden Sticks Golf Club.

Along with being a great opportunity for networking, bonding, and working on our golf swings, we also supported two important causes: the Centennial Infant and Child Centre Foundation and Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides. 

And what helped make the event a hole-in-one were our event sponsors: Independent Trading Group (ITG), MNP, and Dog and Pony Studios, as well as:

We look forward to playing another round next year!

View the album: The CSE Open 2023

Baseball Classic

We also had a great time taking our friends and clients out to the ball game at the 2023 CSE Summer Baseball Classic. 

Vancouver’s Nat Bailey Stadium was the perfect setting for a summer baseball game, with the Vancouver Canadians and Hillsboro Hopps engaged in a thrilling showdown. It was wonderful connecting with colleagues and clients, and to show our appreciation for their enduring support.

Our sponsors irlabs, Odyssey Trust, SmallCap Communications, Capital Tides Vancouver Investor Cruise by Investor.Events, International Deal Gateway, and Stockhouse, helped make this event a home run.

Enjoy these photo highlights from this unforgettable day.

View the album: The CSE Summer Baseball Classic 2023

September Highlights

2023 Precious Metals Summit Beaver Creek

In September, the 2023 Precious Metals Summit Beaver Creek brought together professionals from the investment and mining spaces for panel discussions, presentations, and networking at a beautiful mountainside setting in Colorado. 

We were proud to sponsor and attend this premier, invitation-only independent investment conference, and the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO; Anna Serin, Director of Listings Development for Western Canada and US & Vancouver Branch Lead; and Phillip Shum, Director of Listings Development had a great time connecting with friends and colleagues.

Several CSE-listed issuers were also in attendance at the event, including:

Plus, we had the pleasure of teaming up with MNP and MLT Aikins to host a daily social hour during the summit at the CSE Hospitality Suite. It was a fantastic way to network in between one-on-one meetings and other scheduled networking events while enjoying refreshments.

Thanks for having us!

View the photos: Beaver Creek 2023

Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine: The Precious Metals Issue

At the Precious Metals Summit Beaver Creek, we premiered the 2023 Precious Metals Issue of Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

This issue explores the definition of “precious” in today’s world, which seems to be taking on new meaning as energy-linked metals rise in prominence to feed the growing shift toward cleaner technology, and features the stories of precious and critical metals companies focused on bringing world-class jurisdictions to the limelight, from North America to West Africa.

CSE-listed companies featured in this issue include:

Rob Cook, the CSE’s Senior Vice President of Market Development, is also highlighted in this issue and shares his insights and trends in mining and the capital markets.

October Highlights

Family Office Showcase – London, England

We were thrilled to travel “across the pond” to sponsor a family office showcase in late September in London, hosted by Global Partnership Family Offices and presented by International Deal Gateway (IDG). 

CSE-listed issuers, Discovery Lithium (CSE:DCLI), Hillcrest Energy Technologies (CSE:HEAT), and Gemina Laboratories (CSE:GLAB) also presented at the event.

Ahead of this exciting showcase, the CSE’s James Black sat down with Liz Priestman, CEO and Director of IDG, on The Exchange for Entrepreneurs Podcast. 

The two discussed IDG’s role, family offices benefits and differentiators as investors, the focus on the UK, advice for CEOs, and IDG’s plans and success stories of companies they’ve worked with.

Watch now: Liz Priestman on Finding a Fit with Family Office Capital | The CSE Podcast Ep16-S3

International Mining and Resources Conference – Sydney, Australia

The CSE team journeyed to the land down under for the renowned International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Sydney, Australia. 

At this renowned mining event, now in its 10th year, the CSE’s Richard Carleton, CEO, and Anna Serin, Director of Listings Development for Western Canada and US & Vancouver Branch Lead, had the chance to enjoy presentations covering the entire mining value chain and network with global mining leaders, resource experts, and leading companies.

It was great to be joined by CSE-listed companies, United Lithium (CSE:ULTH) and Inflection Resources (CSE:AUCU), and to celebrate United Lithium’s victory at the pitch competition!

During the conference, Richard Carleton was also given a moment in the spotlight in an interview with Kitco Mining. Richard discussed the current state of the mining sector, raising capital as a Canadian miner in Australia, and major economic trends. 

Thanks for having us!

Read now: ‘Tremendous number of new projects’ in the critical minerals space: Canadian Securities Exchange CEO

November Highlights

Red Cloud Fall Mining Showcase 2023

We were proud to be an event sponsor for the Red Cloud Fall Mining Showcase, in partnership with PearTree, on November 7–8 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel in Toronto.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this action-packed event. It was great to connect with colleagues and friends in the mining space and meet with attendees from around the world.

Plus, CSE-listed companies, ACME Lithium (CSE:ACME), CDN Maverick Capital (CSE:CDN), Kuya Silver (CSE:KUYA), and Latitude Uranium (CSE:LUR) were in attendance.

A special thank you to Red Cloud and PearTree for having us and for putting on such a great showcase. We’re looking forward to the next one!

MJBizCon

Thanks to everyone who joined us at MJBizCon, which took place at the exciting Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas! It was great to participate in this action-packed event, explore the exhibition floor, and dive into the current state of the cannabis landscape.

Plus, CEO of the CSE, Richard Carleton alongside Anil Mall, Director of Listed Company Services, and Phillip Shum, Director of Listings Development for Toronto, had the opportunity to connect with innovators, executives, and entrepreneurs alongside issuers in the cannabis space.

Thanks for having us and inspiring us to “dare to grow”! We’re thrilled to share our photo highlights from this exciting event.

CSE Performance

Year-End 2022 Interview with Canadian Securities Exchange CEO Richard Carleton

With 2022 drawing to a close, the global financial community is looking back on yet another year of unprecedented activity across markets. Governments relaxed pandemic restrictions and wound down historic financial support for individuals and companies, just as interest rates surged in response to inflation concerns that proved to be highly warranted. Shifts in the geopolitical and security landscapes added to the uncertainty.

As always, volatility means difficult times for some and opportunity for others. The mining industry was in the spotlight to be sure, as prices for some metals weakened modestly, while others rose or remained strong. Cannabis rode expectations for regulatory change in the US to both the upside and downside.

The Canadian Securities Exchange took this environment in stride, leveraging competitive advantages that have underpinned its success by making it a popular listing destination for entrepreneurial companies from around the world. The year 2023 looks set to be transformational for the CSE, with several major developments on the horizon that are important for investors, issuers and the financial professionals who serve them to know about.

Canadian Securities Exchange CEO Richard Carleton sat down recently to discuss key accomplishments during 2022 and their meaning for the CSE, as well as to explore some of the changes on deck for 2023.

We have a number of important topics to cover, including some substantial developments set to take place at the CSE early in the new year. But before getting to these, it’s important to set the table with some thoughts on financial markets in 2022. Markets seemed more challenging to figure out than usual. What is the view at the CSE?

Well, I guess there are a few themes. The first is that mining is really driving the bus in terms of capital raised and generating the vast majority of our new listings. And different from some past mining cycles we have seen at the Canadian Securities Exchange, there is investor interest across a range of metals.

Rather than the traditional emphasis on precious metals exploration, we have seen a focus on battery metals: nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt, as well as lithium, graphite and rare earths.

Many of these companies are exploring sites where historic drilling took place. World prices for those metals could not support or commercialization of these deposits some years ago. I think it’s fair to say that given the increases in commodity prices, particularly when we consider them in Canadian dollars, the likelihood of producing mines being developed on these properties is higher than perhaps we have seen in earlier mining cycles.

On the other hand, we are seeing lower levels of trading activity on the exchange. Far fewer people working from home at this point, and I think the increase in interest rates has put a lot of investors in defensive mode, particularly retail investors. The decline in major indices, especially those tracking large technology companies, has also made people somewhat more conservative in terms of risk profile in my view.

The amount of money raised by companies on the exchange is also smaller than we have seen for the last few years. This can be explained by the fact that early-stage mining exploration companies are coming to market with relatively modest market capitalizations; they don’t need a lot of money to fund the initial phases of drilling they are looking to carry out. This contrasts with the large, integrated US cannabis companies coming to market a few years ago where single companies were raising several hundred million dollars in one go.

Overall, financing activity is robust, but it is not accounting for anywhere near the total sums of money that we saw in the latter part of 2020 and early part of 2021.

The CSE continues to pursue issuers from jurisdictions outside of Canada: Australia, Israel and the US are prime examples. Why these markets in particular and what are the plans for 2023?

I believe that one of the best things that Canada does as an economy is to provide public venture capital to early-stage companies. When we are looking at applying the services and skills we offer, we view, in particular, Israel, Australia and the United States as three dynamic places that support start-up companies. But in Israel and the United States, there isn’t a marketplace like the CSE that services early-stage companies with the focus that we bring to the table.

In the case of Australia, we have real interest from the mining community, especially with mining very much back on the minds of investors in North America. We can help Australian companies, that have maybe raised their preliminary capital in Australia, to access more of the global markets through a listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange. This makes them more accessible to investors in Canada, the United States and Europe. What we are looking for are dynamic economies generating lots of start-up companies, but where the companies are perhaps underserved by local markets in their effort to raise public capital.

The CSE has been working on a blockchain-based system for the clearing and settlement of tokenized securities. Where does the project stand and have recent developments outside the Exchange influenced your strategy?

We’ve made good progress on the technology. In fact, this summer we tested the full cycle of a trade with one of the dealers. That would be the trade, through clearing and settlement to all of the back-office processes that need to be completed in order to finalize a transaction. From that perspective, we have continued to make good progress.

It is fair to say that the crypto winter, or whatever you might call it, has influenced how we are thinking about this effort as we move forward. We have a lot of very credible people who are looking to tokenize securities to take advantage of some of the strengths of the technology, and we are continuing to work with regulators on a framework for that.

I think regulators will be conservative in their approach to tokenized securities in view of the situation with FTX and the knock-on impact on a number of participants in the crypto space. None of these, to be honest, are all that relevant to the traditional securities world, which is what we occupy. But, as I say, I believe it will make the regulators more conservative in terms of their approach with regard to thinking about some of the things that we are looking to achieve.

There are a number of job postings on the CSE website, mostly in customer support and regulation. What specific needs will the exchange be addressing with these hires?

A lot of the growth is taking place in our Vancouver office, and it is very much tied to the changes we are looking to implement in our listings policies. We have been working with the regulators and believe we are very close to coming to terms with the British Columbia Securities Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission on the approval of these policies.

The commissions are asking us to take on a larger role in overseeing a number of aspects regarding issuers listed on the exchange. For example, we will be launching a senior tier, which perhaps 80 to 100 companies will qualify for.

The way the regulations work, and exchange policies, is that these companies will be subject to closer scrutiny than the more junior companies. That is more labour intensive from the exchange’s perspective, and we have been staffing up to meet the obligations we are undertaking as a result of these policy changes.

The CSE team participated in several cannabis industry events in 2022, and you were recently named “Capital Markets Advocate of the Year” by the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp. What is the exchange’s motivation to devote so many resources to the cannabis industry?  And what have you learnt about the cannabis industry that the market doesn’t know but needs to?

I think roughly 85% of the market capitalization on the exchange is in the cannabis space. They are our largest companies, our most mature companies, and they account for the vast majority of the revenues generated by companies on the CSE. So, it is a very important community for us to work with and to recognize and support.

There are also a significant number of private companies in the United States in the cannabis sector who don’t like the asset values being given in the public markets right now, especially in light of the decline in share price for many of the companies after Senator McConnell indicated that he was not going to support the SAFE Banking Act, which is liberalization of the rules around access to banking services for the cannabis industry. He suggested he would not be backing that during this session of Congress, and perhaps beyond.

In any event, there is a significant additional number of companies in the United States that we believe will be candidates for listing at some point, so we are trying to keep those relationships warm, even though valuations are not as attractive at the moment as they once were.

I will focus on some of the challenges the US cannabis industry faces in the capital markets. It is unique in the sense that, particularly for the US companies, about 97% of the shares are held by retail accounts. For a number of reasons, there is very little institutional participation in these names. For some it is because they are not listed on a national securities exchange in the United States, because their custodian refuses to keep shares of US cannabis companies in custody, because of volatility, or because they are operating in a state where cannabis is illegal. Many institutions have determined that it is not an investment they are prepared to make.

What that means is that there just isn’t the kind of long-term institutional holding of these shares, which I think has made them considerably more volatile, both up and down, than some of the other companies in their consumer-packaged goods peer group.

When people look at these big price swings, it is important to understand that this is not a Procter & Gamble or something along those lines, where you have a significant percentage of the stock held by institutions, fund managers or ETFs. This is all pretty much retail activity, and retail investors may not have the patience, investment horizon or approach that you would see from an institution. That’s fine, but people need to understand that the profile of these companies may be a little different when it comes to secondary market trading activity as a result.

Mining is another sector that is historically important to the CSE. In 2022, over 70 new mining companies have listed on the exchange. What makes the CSE such a good home for resource companies?

There are two things that I would highlight. The first one is that our team has a really good reputation with leaders in the entrepreneurial community, as well as the investment bankers and the accountants and the lawyers who service that community. We have surveyed these groups over the course of the year to get a better understanding of how they see us and our competitors. We see not only a high level of satisfaction, but a lot of repeat business from these professionals who have had a positive experience as they bring a company to market on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

That experience includes everything from the analysts reviewing files to our accountants. As one example, Francis Manns is an experienced consulting geologist who was extremely influential in the development of 43-101 reports for mining. He is now a resource at the CSE available to our issuers as they look to improve the quality of their public disclosure through technical documentation. He is a highly regarded individual and someone whom people in the industry look forward to working with.

The other piece is that our pricing is very amenable and responsive to the needs of the mining community. It is less expensive to list on the Canadian Securities Exchange than on other markets via IPOs and RTOs. We have long had a policy of providing cost certainty for companies. We are not looking to charge fees as a company raises money, for instance. We are not in the situation where we are nickel-and-diming our companies. They know at the start of the year what their budget is for maintaining a listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange and we stick to that. This is something the companies appreciate because they apply more of the money raised to advancing their projects, as opposed to putting it in the back pocket of the exchange where they happen to be listed.

I think the combination of those two things gives us a powerful leg up when it comes to attracting new business from the mining industry.

In October, the exchange launched the CSE2 trading venue. What exactly is CSE2 and what led you to launch a new venue in what appears to be a fairly crowded landscape?

This is a difficult question to answer quickly because it involves a grasp of evolving Canadian equity market structure. But I’ll give it a try.

An increasing number of brokers are providing zero-commission trading for their clients. People wonder how they get paid if they are not charging clients anything for the trading services they provide.

One of the ways is to monetize order flow from their clients. So, how do they do that?

Markets in Canada typically incent the provision of liquidity by providing a rebate to the party that posts an order that eventually trades. And they charge a higher fee to the party who accesses that liquidity by causing the trade to happen. It is known as “maker-taker” because one party makes the liquidity and the other party takes it. The maker gets a rebate and the taker is charged a fee.

All markets now have a second book which has an inverted price method in which the party who takes the liquidity receives the rebate and the party who posts the order is charged a fee. That way, the discount broker, let’s say, receives a rebate when they post a non-marketable order, and they receive a rebate in the inverted market when they trade against an order that is already there. That way they get rebates on their active orders and they get rebates on their passive orders.

Now, remember how important retail is to the Canadian Securities Exchange, and a lot of that order flow is coming from discount brokers that have reduced or eliminated trading charges over the last few years.

It is thus critical for us, if we are to maintain our price discovery role in the marketplace, to ensure that we continue to gather as many of the passive and active orders for companies listed on the CSE as we possibly we can. Yes, it is a crowded marketplace, but we are the listing exchange and we need to maintain that price discovery for determining the market value of securities at any given time. The alternative is to potentially lose that to marketplaces that are not having to absorb the expenses and regulatory responsibility to actually list the company. That is where we are coming from with CSE2.

One of the biggest developments slated for 2023 is the introduction of a CSE senior tier. How will this differentiate the exchange and what other activities are you planning to support this evolution?

There are really a few things, but I guess the first misconception I want to clear up is that this involves us somehow declaring war on other exchanges in Canada and making a pitch to a company like Royal Bank to delist from the Toronto Stock Exchange and come over to the CSE. It really isn’t that at all.

We have a number of companies on the CSE that would meet the admission criteria on senior exchanges in Canada. And we don’t want to be in a position where those companies are able to follow lesser standards of corporate governance, or longer periods to provide quarterly reporting to the marketplace as well as their annual audit results by virtue of the fact that they are listed on the CSE.

We are trying to put those companies on a level playing field with their peers that are listed on the other senior markets in Canada. We also, obviously, want to retain these companies. I sometimes speak about the Nasdaq back in the 1970s and the 1980s as one of our inspirations. They did such a good job working with Microsoft and Cisco and Oracle way back when they didn’t qualify for the New York Stock Exchange because they lacked tangible assets in the form of factories and steel mills and those sorts of things. All they had was intellectual property and engineers working to improve it.

When the New York Stock Exchange tried to attract Bill Gates and the rest of the senior leadership of the young tech companies in the United States, they told them they were not going to move because they’d had such a positive experience working with Nasdaq as public companies.

That’s the kind of approach we would like to take. We have worked with many companies that have succeeded and are growing. We want those companies to stay and continue to prosper on our marketplace and not go somewhere else simply because they qualify.

The other part is that we are interested in the opportunity to list ETFs and structured products. Looking at some of the other markets in Canada, they have robust structured product and ETF offerings that attract a lot of new listing activity. That is something that has not been available to us in years past, and we hope to open that capability and compete on a level playing field with other exchanges in Canada for that business. We think there are a number of products, such as a true cannabis ETF, that really do have a natural home on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Let’s close on a look back and a look ahead. Talk to us about what it took to build the CSE to its current status, and what amongst your team’s accomplishments makes you the proudest. What should the financial community expect from the CSE over the next two or three years?

I’m going to work backward and start with the question about what to expect. The answer is not all that exciting, but I’d say to anticipate more of the same. That means the CSE grows quickly and we continue to be responsive to the needs of the corporate finance community in Canada, and particularly to entrepreneurs. That way, whatever industry sectors are receiving support from the investor community in Canada, we will be here to support them and provide them with fair, transparent and accessible trading markets for their securities. And then overlay that with the opportunity to compete for more structured products and ETFs.

What did it take for us to get here?  It is very much the team we built and the reputation it has earned through hard work and engagement with people across Canada, the United States and beyond. They achieve a very high level of customer satisfaction and repeat business – all of the indicators suggest that we will continue to be very competitive with our peers in bringing new companies to market, and really what it rests on is the people we have had around us for years. Our bench is deep and experienced. And we continue to add to it with people who are excited to join a group that did such a good job of building an exchange that is now a material part of the Canadian financial landscape.

There are not many other examples in the world of an alternative exchange like ours being successful and having the impact that it has had. I think that while all of us can take some pride in that, what we definitely can’t do now is to take it easy. It is still a very competitive landscape in Canada and beyond.

CSE Performance

Year-End 2021 Interview With Richard Carleton Part 2

Earlier this month, CSE CEO Richard Carleton sat down for an interview to recap an eventful 2021 and what is shaping up to be the CSE’s biggest year ever in 2022.

It is fair to say that the CSE is moving to a new level in the global exchange ecosystem – it’s like the next generation of the CSE. A senior issuer designation is part of this evolution. Can you update us on its status and the importance of the new designation, both to CSE issuers and the Exchange itself?

I think I should start by explaining that there is no such thing as an exchange designation being senior or junior. The way securities regulation works in Canada is that it is the companies that are characterized as being senior or venture issuers.

On December 9, we formally announced a project in the form of a request for comment published by the BC and Ontario securities commissions. What this entails is a significant rewrite to the listings rules of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

There are two major facets to the project. The first one is that we are updating our requirements for junior companies, both at the entry level and to continue to be listed on the Exchange. We have worked with our regulators over the last couple of years to revise these rules.

The second part, which is grabbing all of the headlines, is that we are creating a senior tier of the exchange. This is not a new exchange or separate trading facility, but a designation for a certain number of our issuers who have achieved a certain size and maturity in terms of the development of their business. Do they have revenue? Do they have significant assets? Is their sales trajectory rising? Do they have a significant market capitalization?

We’ve identified some 60 to 80 companies that would qualify to list on similar exchanges in Canada, and we’ve also seen a move by companies to dually list with Nasdaq this year. So, we are creating a rule framework that will regulate these companies, in effect as senior issuers.

The new framework will require these companies to have larger boards, bring more prescription around corporate governance procedures, plus set shorter timeframes to complete quarterly and audited annual financial reporting. There are also a few other measures that the companies will have to abide by, including more supervision of their continuous disclosure to the market.

In return, we believe there are multiple benefits for issuers designated as members of the senior tier. The first is that we have been working with IIROC to ensure these companies will be included on IIROC’s list of securities that are eligible for reduced margin when in dealer inventory. Right now, when dealers are holding CSE issuers in inventory, they have to take a charge against their regulatory capital of 100 cents on the dollar. Companies trading at more than $5.00 per share will only have to have a charge against regulatory capital of 20 cents, which is equivalent to that on other exchanges in Canada that serve as a senior company marketplace. It sounds technical, but it will have a practical impact on reducing the cost of capital for these companies when they are raising money.

We’re also working with international index providers to ensure that these companies are eligible for inclusion in different indices. For example, the US multi-state operators, which in many cases have market capitalizations in the billions of dollars, could qualify for inclusion in one of the MSCI or FTSE US indices. We have companies operating in Israel that would qualify for inclusion in the Israeli indices. We have been working with the index companies to provide for this capability.

We’ll also have, as part of the senior designation, the ability to list SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies), exchange traded funds, and structured products. And that’s important because we know that there are a number of ETF manufacturers that would like to launch products that are US cannabis-oriented, and they could launch those products on the CSE. There may not be much room left to run in the SPAC space, but we also know that there are some interesting structured products that are being developed, and we think we are the logical home for those instruments.

That is all part of the Exchange competition to come, where we will be working with the creators of these products to provide an appropriate home for their new listings.

Read Richard’s latest blog post here to learn more about issuer designations and the request for comments on the CSE’s proposal to revise its listing policies.

The senior designation is obviously going to be a very important development. Considering this, the impressive financing activity, the consistent growth in both institutional and retail investor participation, and other factors we have discussed, can you talk to us more about your views on the CSE’s evolving position within the broader global financial marketplace.

It is very much an evolution. We have been at this for 20 years and have the benefit of a very experienced team, whether it’s on the trading, market information, or listings regulation side, who understand at a very deep level what it takes to provide successful exchange services to the issuer, investor, and trading communities.

What it has really been is a series of efforts by us to eliminate all of the barriers and friction points for our issuers in the provision of those services. If I think back some years ago, we weren’t accessible by the online discount brokers in Canada. That was a huge issue that we devoted a great deal of time and energy to, and then five or six years ago, we managed to overcome that hurdle. Of course, that had a big impact on turnover, accessibility, and the appeal of a listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Now that we have a cohort of larger, highly successful companies that have achieved a significant level of development in their lifecycle, we are looking at the friction points there. I talked about membership in international indices. We also need to improve access for international investors, one example being brokers who provide access to Canada for accounts in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and other regions. We have to ensure they have access to these names.

There are institutional investors who claim they won’t invest in the small-cap space and have concluded that anything listed on the CSE is small-cap in nature. We have to work with these institutional investors to educate them about the success that many of our issuers have had, and the fact that they have attained market capitalizations in excess of a billion dollars in a number of cases.

At the end of the day, it’s a case of keeping our nose to the grindstone. It’s doing the hard work, making the trips, representing the issuers, identifying the hurdles, and developing plans to overcome those challenges.

It really sounds like 2022 is going to be one of the most important years in the CSE’s history. Let’s conclude with your thoughts on what companies listed on the CSE can anticipate in terms of service enhancements in the new year.

In the first part of the year, we are going to be working with the industry on completing the comment period for the new listings manual project. And in conjunction with that, we are going to be quite vocal across a variety of channels, explaining to people that we have succeeded with a number of very large companies, so the marketplace can expect some promotion and information related to that.

As our customer base grows and our regulatory obligations and connection with the framework for the senior issuers grows, we will be enhancing the teams who work with our issuers and their advisors, in our Toronto and Vancouver offices in particular. It is incredibly important that we continue to maintain our service levels, which is a really important part of what we do. I have received tremendous feedback over the years regarding both the personal service levels people feel they get at the Canadian Securities Exchange and the very positive problem-solving culture within our group. And we are certainly looking to maintain that as we continue to build out the team in order to provide high levels of service.

And I know we have talked about it for some years now, but we will see settlement and clearing services from the Canadian Securities Exchange in 2022. In fact, I have just come from a demonstration of the real, live system which is up and running in our testing environment. So, that is something I think will give us a significant advantage, in particular when we are working with the industry on listing structured products and taking advantage of the benefits of tokenizing their securities.

Obviously, there is lots going on. As we know, there is also motion in the global securities world. We’ve got Cboe Global Markets, which has acquired the NEO Exchange locally, and they will be closing that transaction at some point next year. And so that really leaves us as the only Canadian listing venue, along with the TMX Group, being locally owned and operated. That is an advantage we will be continuing to present to the industry in 2022.

Check out Part 1 of the interview here.

CSE Performance

Year-End 2021 Interview With Richard Carleton

Anyone keeping an eye on developments at the CSE over the past several years has watched the Exchange go from strength to strength, with the number of listed securities, capital raised by CSE-listed issuers, trading volume, and other performance measures climbing sequentially without interruption.

As exciting as the growth in CSE performance and services has been to date, the Exchange is preparing to take things to an entirely new level in 2022. Key to this is a senior designation for larger issuers who meet certain criteria. The new designation, and the regulatory framework that comes with it, also means that ETFs, SPACs, and structured products will be able to list on the CSE for the first time.

In an interview conducted in mid-December, CSE Chief Executive Officer Richard Carleton discussed these topics and more, giving issuers and investors a preview of what is shaping up to be the CSE’s biggest year ever.

Companies listed on the CSE have enjoyed an excellent response to their capital raising efforts in 2021, with a total of $7.74 billion in financings completed in the 12 months to the end of November. We have seen equity raises of all sizes, and debt is becoming more prominent as well; in October, Trulieve Cannabis successfully marketed US$350 million in senior notes. The listing environment at the CSE is designed to facilitate a low cost of capital for the Exchange’s issuers. As larger fundraisings take place, is that advantage being maintained?

There is a lot of ground to cover there, but I’d begin by saying that the Exchange exists to remove as much regulatory friction from the capital formation process as possible, so there are advantages for CSE-listed issuers generally when they are raising capital. As an example, we don’t charge issuers a percentage fee of the amount raised each and every time they do a secondary offering.

In large measure, the decrease in capital costs we’ve seen is also a function of changing dynamics, in that capital is being provided to large and successful companies, particularly in the US cannabis space. For instance, some of these companies were able to launch debt offerings because they now have substantial revenues to secure the debt against. As a result, they have seen the cost of capital from a debt perspective drop to levels which begin to reflect companies of similar size and growth trajectory in the consumer-packaged goods sector.

It’s thus a function of how we operate as an exchange, but also an indication of how capital providers view many of the companies listed on the CSE.

At the end of November, there were 736 listed securities on the CSE, which is 17% higher than at the same time last year. Talk to us about some of the trends you have observed in companies coming to market in 2021.

The first thing is that we are likely to achieve a record in terms of the number of new companies that join the Exchange this year. Right there, that tells you that the market is very robust for companies looking to raise capital to go public. One of the interesting things is that it has been very broadly based. We have many new themes that people have been interested in.

The sustainable food movement is a good example of a sector where a number of companies have tapped the public markets this year. Obviously, the psychedelics industry has also captured a good deal of investor attention. And then there are long-standing industries, such as mining, which is back in a big way, not only because of the robust nature of precious metals prices but also because investments are being made in various industries to advance the electrification of the economy, or decarbonization if you want to call it that. This has a significant impact on the mining space because the demand for the minerals used to produce batteries is extensive. And, of course, companies are also looking to shorten their supply chains, so investments in projects located within North America, for example, have been accelerated.

We have also had a continuing robust marketplace in the cannabis space. We have seen some new issuers in this sector join the Exchange this year and significant amounts of capital have been raised.

In addition, there has been tremendous investment in technology, which provides us with esports, gaming, and the decentralized finance companies related to blockchain. From my 30 odd years of experience in the capital markets, this is really one of the few times I can recall when virtually every industry sector is firing on all cylinders.

There is potential to challenge another listings record in 2022 and surpass this year’s total. This is a very exciting prospect for me, as it shows there is a high demand for our services.

Explain the role of retail investors in the market in 2021. What impact did they have on trading and liquidity?

In a word, huge. The junior capital markets in Canada are traditionally dominated by retail investors. Retail participants have always constituted an extremely important part of the investing and trading community that supports the work of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

It’s no secret that there was an absolute explosion of retail trading activity, particularly in the first quarter of 2021. We’ve set records in terms of daily number of shares traded, transactions, and value traded. By any measure, we are significantly above any kind of activity levels seen previously. And that growth has been principally driven by the expansion of activity from the retail space.

When we talk to our colleagues, and particularly those in the discount brokerage sector, we’re hearing that a whole new generation of investors has joined the marketplace, and really just since the beginning of the pandemic. These newcomers skew significantly younger than the traditional retail investor population who were in the 55 and up category in the past. We have seen lots of new accounts opened with significant participation from people in their 20s and 30s. These are people who are investing in the markets for the first time, and they bring a different viewpoint. They were enormously important in providing capital to the cannabis industry. They are very focused on issues around sustainability and environmental impact, diversity, and helping create a better world. They want to invest in company stories they believe in and that are helping to shape that better world.

There are a number of longer-term outcomes we will see because of this. Things such as ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) reporting from companies, as well as companies having to pay a significant amount of attention when presenting their stories to where they sit in the world of impact investing. I think it is healthy, it’s positive, and it’s going to introduce some important changes to the way in which companies raise capital and communicate with their shareholders.

Check out Part 2 of the interview here.

CSE Performance

Year-End 2020 Interview With Richard Carleton

Earlier this month, CSE CEO Richard Carleton sat down with Peter Murray of Kiyoi Communications to recap an eventful 2020 and discuss the coming year for the exchange.

Scroll down to read the full transcript of Part 1 of this interview. For ease of navigation, a list of hyperlinked topics is included below.

1. Leading through COVID-19

2. The role of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)

3. What was funded in 2020

4. CSE’s contribution to the mining industry

Leading through COVID-19

PM: We spoke in the summer about leadership in the COVID-19 environment. Do you have any new observations to share from the past six months?

RC: The themes are basically the same as we talked about over the course of the summer in that we have done an excellent job – and not just at the Canadian Securities Exchange but the securities industry in general – to provide a high level of service while dealing with the staff dislocation caused by the lockdown orders, bans on non-essential travel, and so on.  That has certainly continued through the fall and now the winter.  We have a small team onsite in Toronto, primarily on the technology and market operations side.

We have transitioned most of our business development and education capabilities – all of them really – to virtual events.  And we concluded in late 2020 the Mining Over Canada project where we created more than 60 hours of content over the course of five or six weeks, which is available on our YouTube channel and various other social media platforms.  That was a wonderful collaboration with thought leaders and issuers from the mining industry.  It was a tremendous amount of work and kudos to Anna Serin and her team for putting the program together.  I think people in the mining industry really took note of our encouragement and support for the sector and we look forward to building on those relationships in 2021.  The landscape continues to be very favourable for mining and it’s a sector of the market we have high hopes for this year.

The role of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)

PM: IPOs have gone from being very infrequent just four years ago to a listing approach of choice today.  Talk to us about how companies are coming to market and what the CSE feels the most efficient approaches are.  Also, are there any misconceptions that need to be set straight?

RC: The IPO was almost dead three or four years ago, and as you mentioned we now see the IPO as an increasingly common route to market.  I think there are a few drivers behind that, but every situation is unique, and for me to say the IPO is superior to the RTO in all circumstances would not be accurate.  Each company has to figure out in the context of their financing what the lowest cost of capital is, what approach will provide the best post-listing liquidity profile – there are a lot of considerations that go into it.

But historically, the concern has been that the IPO takes longer, costs more and introduces significantly more risk into the transaction because of the time it takes from the decision to launch the IPO to actually getting there.  There is also the side benefit that if you do an RTO and are able to get the growth capital required through a private placement supported by a relatively small number of investors, the management team is not having to lose focus on the day-to-day business of the company as they might spending time on the road selling the securities being qualified by the prospectus.  That is a significant consideration for some companies when they decide to do an RTO.

I think it is becoming better understood that there are a number of dealers who are in a position to handle IPOs and they have a lot of investors in place ready to support certain types of companies.  As a result, their sales effort may not be as challenging as it has been in previous market cycles.  And I think post-listing price performance and liquidity can be better with an IPO because you have investors who considered the company and have made the decision to invest in it.  With an RTO, the target can be in a completely different industry.  We  saw a lot of companies that had been mining companies and turned into cannabis companies overnight.  The original shareholders bought into a mining company, not a cannabis company; that can create an overhang that impedes price out of the gate.

So, there are many different considerations.  I think it is healthy that we are seeing more IPOs because that gives people broader access to investment opportunities.  You don’t have to be an accredited investor to invest in securities that are being qualified by a prospectus, and the more people who are able to participate in the growth of these companies, the better off and the healthier the public capital markets will become.

What Was Funded in 2020

PM: The stock market in general was robust through much of 2020.  CSE data shows financings and trading volume in particular at strong levels for yet another year.  Walk us through some of the numbers, and also discuss some of the internal achievements that people might not necessarily be aware of.

RC: The principal takeaway from the numbers is that financing activity was extremely healthy for the year beginning around late April.  That continued through the course of the summer.  There is often a drop-off in July and August, but in 2020 there was no such effect.

As I mentioned a moment ago, from a dollar perspective the cannabis industry was the largest fundraiser on the exchange.  However, in terms of the number of individual financings, the mining industry was by far the leader.  It’s not surprising, given concerns about incipient inflation brought about by the enormous monetary creation by central banks in developed economies.  As a result, we have seen a tremendous amount of investment activity in the precious metals space.  There is also the expectation that coming out of the pandemic, governments will invest significant amounts in infrastructure, and that means commodities such as iron, copper and other components of steel are going to be in high demand.  We are already seeing spot prices of these commodities increase quite nicely.

There are also concerns about supply chains, where people would prefer to source materials from jurisdictions that are more politically stable than others.  So, people looking to rationalize supply chains and shorten their delivery cycles are encouraging a lot of activity in the North American mining space in particular.

PM: Let’s look a little more at this continuation of strong financing activity on the exchange.  Aside from mining and cannabis, was their notable investor interest in any particular sectors?

RC: For obvious reasons healthcare technologies, and telehealth in particular, are industry categories in which companies performed very well over the course of the year.  It’s not something we would have predicted to that extent going into the year, but when the pandemic began to really take off it was a timely area for these companies to be in.

As far as psychedelics go, we have around 30 companies pursuing different business opportunities in the space.  We first began to hear rumblings in 2019 that people were going to be looking to advance the cause for psychedelics, particularly as a treatment for substance abuse, anxiety and depression.  I’ve had the opportunity in my position to learn from the industry’s thought leaders and the takeaways are fascinating.

There is a meaningful body of clinical research dating from the 1920s through the 1950s for substances such as LSD, psylocibin and ketamine.  The clinical indications were incredibly positive for some of these therapies on depressive illness that had resisted other kinds of treatment.  It was really the war on drugs that pushed these substances into the background and ended research into the space for the last 70 years.  We are now in a position where researchers will be able to continue that work.  I’m confident that we will see supervised therapies involving these compounds achieve important breakthroughs on multiple illnesses that have been very challenging for traditional pharmaceutical companies to appropriately address.

PM: The growth in aggregate market capitalization on the CSE in 2020 was exceptional, and as of early 2021 it has surpassed $50 billion.  Walk us through the reasons for the increase and your thoughts on growth in the years ahead.

RC: For us, the significant increases in market capitalization are almost entirely due to the US multistate operators in the cannabis sector.  The top ten operators in the United States are listed on the CSE and they contribute a significant percentage of that $50 billion.  Curaleaf, which is our largest company by market capitalization, as well as by revenue and some other measures, passed $10 billion in market capitalization just the other day.  It’s fascinating to see the growth in these companies.

It’s going to be interesting with the political changes in the United States, with the Democrats now controlling the Senate.  A lot of these companies have been on a tremendous run on the belief that the Biden administration will oversee liberalization and potentially the de-scheduling of cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act.  My take is a little less bullish. I think there will be liberalization of banking and potentially tax measures associated with the industry, but I don’t believe that either Mr. Biden or Ms. Harris have full support from their party to make new cannabis laws a central piece of their legislative program.  I think a number of longstanding issues will be addressed, but I’m not sure we are going to see full-on de-scheduling of cannabis in the United States, certainly during the first two years of the administration.

In the meantime, progress continues at the state level, with New Jersey having voted to legalize, and New York and Connecticut appear on track to legalize cannabis for adult use in the coming year.   We’ll probably see recreational legalized in Pennsylvania at some point in the next year or two.  These are really big populous states, and the companies that have real scale will have the opportunity to expand their businesses as a result of work at the state level.  These companies will likely continue to grow at significant rates.

CSE’s contribution to the mining industry

PM: I want to go back to Mining Over Canada, as there was so much to learn from the series, and it will have significant educational value for investors for years to come. Talk to us more about how it developed internally and some of the insights that came out of it.

RC: Mining Over Canada was really the culmination of other virtual events we had done earlier in the year.  One of the things that struck us early on was that everyone is working from home, so these highly respected investors and company leaders, they are available – we can call them up and get 15 or 20 minutes for a video segment with them.  I think back to an interview that our James Black did with Howie Mandel early in the pandemic in support of Howie’s charity, which helps provide personal protective equipment to healthcare professionals in North America.  James was thanking Howie for his time and he said, “Hey, I’ll give you as much time as you want.  I’m just here, you know.”

We had a similar experience with Mining Over Canada.  We approached a number of thought leaders – whether it be analysts, investors, or leadership at our issuers – and they were extremely cooperative and generous with their time and guidance.

One of the things we really wanted to help emphasize is just how important the mining industry is to the Canadian economy, not only in historic terms but in the present day as well.  And how Canada can leverage its leadership in public finance for the industry to service the wave of demand coming from the industry.  Whether it’s significant increases in infrastructure, desire to shorten supply chains, new demand for minerals brought on by the electrification of the economy – mining is going to be at the forefront of a lot of thinking and investment in coming years.

Check out Part 2 of the interview here.

CSE Performance

Year-End 2020 Interview With Richard Carleton Part 2

Earlier this month, CSE CEO Richard Carleton sat down with Peter Murray of Kiyoi Communications to recap an eventful 2020 and discuss the coming year for the exchange.

Scroll down to read the full transcript of Part 2 this interview. For ease of navigation, a list of hyperlinked topics is included below.

1. Changes at the board level for the organization

2. Outlook for 2021

Changes at the board level for the organization

PM: Thomas Caldwell stepped down as Chairman of the CSE’s Board of Directors in September after spending almost eight years in the role. Talk about his contribution to the Exchange as an investor and also as Chairman. How will he continue to support the Exchange’s efforts going forward?

RC: I think it’s fair to say that the Canadian Securities Exchange would not exist in its present form without Tom’s leap of faith back in late 2012 to lead an investment round that provided the exchange with the capital required to continue to offer its services.  In his capacity as chairman, Tom was a relentless advocate for the CSE in his work and with his contacts, which of course are incredibly broad in the exchange world.  He is tremendously supportive of our management team and very inspirational with his “relentless optimism” as he calls it.  His energy, his commitment and his passion for the business were an inspiration not just to me, but to the entire organization.

Tom is not far away, because he is the chairman and principal of Urbana Corporation, which is the largest shareholder of the Canadian Securities Exchange.  In that capacity, we will continue to look to Tom for the benefit of his guidance and wisdom, and his continued support for our organization in its work.

PM: Other changes were also made to the board, with four new members elected at the annual general meeting. Tell us about the new board members, why the time was right to welcome them, and what it means for the CSE.

RC: There were a couple of drivers at the annual general meeting in September, which is when these changes took place.  The first was that we entered into  new recognition orders with the Ontario Securities Commission and the BC Securities Commission, our two principal regulators, and those orders required the exchange to have an independent chairperson.  Mr. Caldwell, by virtue of the shareholding of Urbana, was not considered an independent director of the organization.  Steve Blake, a continuing member of the board, graciously agreed to take on the responsibility of serving as chair.  Steve was elected by the shareholders at the AGM and we look forward to an excellent working relationship with him in his new role.

In addition, we were shorthanded, as former board member Mary Anne Palangio had become our chief financial officer earlier in the year, so we had a vacancy to fill.  And we also had some directors who had indicated to us that they were looking for different challenges, and they moved on with our best wishes.

Our new directors include Hema Barkhouse.  Hema is in the treasury group at Canadian Tire, where she is a senior officer and  has experience in accounting and finance in a public company setting.  Hema is chair of our audit committee and we look forward to her advice in managing the financial situation of the company.

Eric Sites is a resident of Chicago.  He works with Horizon Kinetics, which is one of our significant shareholders.  In his work with Horizon Kinetics, he has overseen investments in a number of exchanges around the world, so Eric is a wonderful addition to our board, both to advise management and potentially to open doors for us as we spread our wings internationally.

Brendan Caldwell, Tom’s son, is a new member of the board.  Brendan has been very closely aligned with his father at Caldwell Investment Management as well as Urbana Corporation.  Brendan also has worked with exchanges around the world and is extraordinarily knowledgeable about the space.

And last, but certainly not least, Michael Bluestein is a lawyer who founded a firm called Corporate Counsel just north or Toronto.  Michael has been a marvelous supporter of the Canadian Securities Exchange in his practice and he is the chair of our regulatory committee, which oversees the policymaking work of the exchange.  Michael is someone we have known well for quite a while.  We look forward to working together closely, particularly on our new listing rulebook.

Outlook for 2021

PM: Let’s look at the CSE’s plans for 2021. What goals have you set for the team? And what initiatives, both ongoing and new, will the CSE be focusing its time on?

RC: Goal setting in this space is always a little tricky.  We are subject to the whims of the market and even if we think at the beginning of the year that we are going to be focusing a lot of energy in a particular industry sector, we may find that investors decide to support different sectors in the marketplace with their investment and trading.  So, we can’t get too granular in the goals we set for the organization.

Clearly what we are seeing, though, is a significant expansion in trading activity, not just on the CSE but across Canada. Earlier in the year we were seeing roughly a billion shares a day trading across all markets.  And over the last six weeks or so we have gone to 2 billion.  What I can say, as someone who has been around this business for more than 30 years, is that this tends to be the pattern.  Canada will turn over X number of shares, and without warning it goes to 2X.  The interesting thing is that it happens without any real warning, and then it becomes the new baseline.

We had our previous record burst of activity in 2017 and 2018, which was driven by the US cannabis companies that joined the CSE and the extreme level of investment interest in them.  The other markets were not in line with those increases, but this time they are.  Everybody  has seen a doubling in turnover.  Did we see that coming?  Not really.  Volumes were healthy over the summer and we noticed increased retail participation, and that’s true on our exchange and some of the other exchanges catering to early-stage companies.  

Obviously, we are going to continue to explore and expand our use of social media platforms and virtual sessions, to get our message out and engage with as many people as we can, whether it is issuers or investors or other stakeholders.  We have learned a lot about what works and what does not work and we’ll apply that knowledge to our programs this year.  It is certainly less expensive than being in an airplane all the time and you can reach out and touch a lot more people this way as well.  It is going to be a permanent part of our programs moving forward and I think that will be the case for almost every industry.

That having been said, as we get later on in the year, I think there are a lot of folks who are going to want to see us face to face so my expectation is that we will be on the road quite a bit from October.

Overall, the picture appears quite robust from a listings perspective.  Certainly, the mining industry is in good shape, as it was our strongest sector in terms of new listings in 2020 by number of individual financings.  By dollar total the cannabis industry is still the champion by a wide measure because you have a number of issuers that raised very large sums of money last year.  We are also seeing more activity in the technology sector, some of it oriented toward health care.  Communications has obviously been a big theme.  And we have also made an impression in the growing psychedelics market.

PM: What other growth opportunities are there for the CSE over the longer term?

RC: We are going to continue to look at different international jurisdictions.  Listing on the CSE is a very cost-effective means for companies to access not just the Canadian public capital markets but the US private placement market as well.  By virtue of being a Canadian reporting issuer, without having to also undergo the pain and expense of becoming a reporting issuer in the United States, it really is one of the great bargains in our world.  We’ve had good success attracting companies from different countries from around the world.  And we’ve seen real interest from different Asian markets over the last six months.  It’s been challenging to do the kind of business development we’d like because we are all locked down.  But I can see as we move out of the pandemic that we’ll begin to capitalize on that interest from Asia.

I’d also highlight Australia, which is obviously a very large mining market.  The Australian miners have always had a lot of respect for the ability of Canada’s public markets to provide financing.  And we’ll be exploring ways to facilitate Australian company access to Canadian public markets through a CSE listing.

PM: Any final thoughts on the year ahead or topics we have not touched on so far?

RC: We are continuing to work on the delivery of a clearing and settlement system for tokenized securities.  I always caution that we are not talking about bitcoin or ether or other cryptocurrencies, but securities which use the smart contracts originally developed by those in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world and applying them to solve problems in the cash equities world.  I have been heartened over the course of the year, as we have attracted a number of partners to work with us on achieving this goal. These organizations are expert in different components of service and have existing customer relationships with issuers and the Canadian dealer community.  We’ll be talking more about this as the year progresses and hope to be in a position to get it into people’s hands later in 2021.

 Check out Part 1 of this interview here.