Monique McAlister and Michael Koch at the LSO's New Developments in Communications Law and Policy Program

Details

Saturday April 26, 2008
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m: New Developments in Foreign Ownership Policy

Panelist: Michael Koch, Goodmans LLP

This session will focus on:

Over the past year, the CRTC has addressed the issue of complex foreign ownership structures in several major transactions. Noteworthy are the transfer of control in the CanWest/Alliance Atlantis acquisition as well as the BCE privatization transaction. Industry Canada has wrestled with similar foreign ownership issues in the transfer of control of Telesat Canada and of various BCE subsidiaries holding radiocommunication licenses. What are the key issues and hot spots in foreign ownership review for 2008? To what extent does the process of foreign ownership review occur behind closed doors? Should the process be more open to public scrutiny or would this put an even greater chill on foreign investment?

Steering Committte Member: Monique McAlister, Goodmans LLP