Background

Paul Findlay is a partner at our Toronto office. He earned BA and LLB degrees from Queen's University and an LLM degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the Bar in 1979. He spent 15 months working at the Ontario Securities Commission (October 1980 to January 1982).

Areas of Practice

• Paul's practice area is corporate/commercial law with an emphasis on securities law, including corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and investment funds.

Rankings and Recognitions

• Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in Canada® 2012 (Corporate Law; Mutual Funds Law; Securities Law)
• Recognized in the 2011 edition of PLC Which Lawyer? (Invesment Funds; Capital Markets: Debt and Equity)
• Martindale-Hubbell BV® Distinguished™ 4.4 out of 5 Peer Review Rating
• Recognized in the 2011 Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Corporate Finance & Securities; Income Funds; Investment Funds & Asset Management)

Professional Experience

• Acts for underwriters and issuers in connection with public and private financing:
  • Issuers have included senior issuers, junior issuers, trusts and limited partnerships and securitization vehicles;
  • Securities offered have included debt (straight, convertible or exchangeable), shares (common, preferred, non-voting etc.), special warrants, instalment receipts, trust units, subscription receipts and combinations of more than one security;
  • Offerings have included initial public offerings, additional offerings, secondary offerings, rights offerings and combinations thereof;
• Acts in connection with public and private mergers and acquisitions
• Acts for bidders and offeree issuers in connection with take-over bids.
• Advises with respect to amalgamations, arrangements and other transactions involving public companies.
• Advises buyers, sellers and target companies in connection with negotiated acquisitions.
• Advises independent committees of boards of directors and valuers in related party transactions, going private transactions, insider bids and issuer bids.
• Advises public companies with respect to reporting obligations and corporate governance matters.
• Acts for closed-end investment funds, mutual funds, pooled funds and commodity pools.
• Advises applicants for registration under the Securities Act .
• Advises dealers and advisers as to compliance with applicable securities legislation.

Professional and Community Activities

• Member, Securities Advisory Committee of the Ontario Securities Commission (1991 to 1994).
• Member of the Canadian Bar Association and American Bar Association (Business Law Section) Canadian Liaison, State Regulation of Securities Committee (American Bar Association); past member of several committees of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.
• Has written and/or spoken on the following topics:
  • Recent developments in Canadian securities laws
  • M&A transactions
  • Corporate governance
  • Canadian capital markets
  • Financing for small businesses
  • Related party transactions
  • Audit committees
  • Investment funds
  • Foreign-based advisory services and funds
  • Mutual fund dealer compliance
  • Investment adviser compliance
• Editor, Carswell's Consolidated Ontario Securities Act since 1996; Editor-in-chief of Carswell's Securities Law & Practice (3rd Edition) by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP since 2003.