OPINION
Looking to Catch a New Trend Early? Follow the Canucks
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ilicon Valley is unmistakably home to some of the world’s largest, fastest growing, most disruptive technology companies, and the pools of capital that have built them. From Tesla’s autonomous, electric vehicles, to PayPal’s continued disruption of the payments space, to the growth of Alphabet, Facebook, and the area’s numerous social media players, the effects of Silicon Valley are powerful, and pervasive. However, for all the success the Valleybased unicorns enjoy, they have not grown nearly the breadth of industry as the Canadian capital markets. The two-tiered capital markets structure of the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange have developed a track record of identifying opportunities, defining success metrics, and listing businesses early in their lifecycle. These com-
panies can finance at sequentially higher levels through the public markets as they execute on their business plan. By bringing companies public early, retail investors get to participate alongside institutional capital, management, and the deal makers during the growth phases across a broad range of major industries.
whaT makes CanaDIan markeTs unIque? The risk appetite of the Canadian capital markets, combined with listing mechanisms such as a Reverse Take Over (“RTO”) or
Qualifying Transaction (“QT”)—the RTO of a Capital Pool Company—has enabled the development of major global industries, including mining exploration for precious metals, extraction of battery metals, and development of renewable energy projects. Most recently, this has translated in the growth of the blockchain, cryptocurrency, and cannabis industries north of the American border. Perhaps the most broadly adopted disclosure standard implemented in the Canadian capital markets is National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects which has enabled capital to finance
n BY BRADY FLETCHER
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