Section 235 — Canada Business Corporations Act: Information respecting ownership and control

If the Director is satisfied that, for the purposes of Part XI, XIII or XVII, or for the purposes of enforcing any regulation made under section 174, there is reason to inquire into the ownership or control of a security of a corporation or any of its affiliates, the Director may require any person that the Director reasonably believes has or has had an interest or right in the security or acts or has acted on behalf of a person with such an interest or right to report to him or her or to any person the Director designates information that the person has or can reasonably be expected to obtain as to present and past interests or rights in the security; and the names and addresses of the persons with such an interest or right and of any person who acts or has acted in relation to the security on their behalf. For the purposes of subsection (1), a person is deemed to have an interest or right in a security if the person has a right to vote or to acquire or dispose of the security or any interest or right in it; the person’s consent is necessary for the exercise of the rights or privileges of any other person with an interest or right in the security; or any other person with an interest or right in the security can be required or is accustomed to exercise rights or privileges attached to the security in accordance with the person’s instructions. The Director shall publish in a publication generally available to the public the particulars of information obtained by the Director under this section, if the particulars are required to be disclosed by this Act or the regulations; and have not previously been so disclosed. A person who fails to comply with this section is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both. Where a body corporate commits an offence under subsection (4), any director or officer of the body corporate who knowingly authorized, permitted or acquiesced in the commission of the offence is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both, whether or not the body corporate has been prosecuted or convicted.