By Anirban Sen
BOCA RATON, March 12 (Reuters) - TMX Group, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, is in talks with Canadian regulators to push through new rules that will allow all companies to report earnings every six months, instead of on a quarterly basis, mirroring a similar effort underway in the United States.
The move comes as Canada is attempting to revive its IPO market and reverse a years-long shrinkage of publicly traded companies, which has been driven by delistings and takeovers.
The Canadian Securities Administrators, the country's top securities regulator, late last year published a proposal that would allow smaller companies, typically with revenues of less than $10 million, to replace quarterly earnings reports with semi-annual filings.
TMX is suggesting that the newly proposed rules should also include larger publicly listed companies, CEO John McKenzie said in an interview on the sidelines of the Futures Industry Association's annual conference in Florida.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last year that companies should be allowed to get rid of quarterly reporting and switch to a semi-annual earnings schedule. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has said that it was making Trump's proposal a priority.
Companies in many parts of Europe and Asia, as well as Australia, have been reporting earnings every six months for several years.
"We have recommended that (CSA) should actually take it all the way, and we should actually consider making it optional for all public companies," said McKenzie. "Then the companies will decide with their shareholders. If the shareholders need more information, they will tell them or they won't provide capital."
In order to encourage more companies to list on stock exchanges, Canada has in recent years reduced tax burdens for smaller companies, while also easing onerous financial disclosure requirements for companies that are seeking to tap the public markets.
"Last year, at one point, Trump said (getting rid of quarterly reporting) was a good idea. If it gets traction in the U.S., we've already had engagement with the Canadian regulators who said we have to follow it immediately, like there could be zero lag time," said McKenzie.
MINING IPO REVIVAL
TMX is also hoping for a big pick-up in IPO activity this year, driven by a rebound in the mining industry that has helped offset the impact of market volatility arising from the war in Iran, as well as the recent software selloff.
Several companies, including AGT Food and Ingredients, and drugmaker Apotex, are aiming to tap the public markets this year.
McKenzie said the Toronto Stock Exchange was poised to regain its status as the world's top mining hub, after a recent revival in listings from the sector that has been driven by increased global demand for critical minerals over the past year.
Roughly 1,100 mining companies currently trade on Canadian stock exchanges.
"With what the U.S. administration is actually doing in terms of kind of onshoring or creating mineral relationships to counter the Chinese market, which is actually also trying to do the same thing, you're creating more and more opportunities for prospectors and developers to build out these mines. So it's a very pro-mining economy," said McKenzie.
(Reporting by Anirban Sen in Boca Raton, Florida, editing by Andrei Khalip)
