Canadian business can expect increase in litigation

And the key driver behind this trend, reports The Globe and Mail, is the growing prominence of issues of corporate governance and a spate of new laws affecting the way businesses operate. Ontario in particular is widely expected early this year to enact long-awaited amendments to its Securities Act that will make it easier for shareholders to launch civil lawsuits against public companies for errors and omissions that have an impact on stock prices. Adding to that will be a more vigorous emphasis on the policing of public markets, says Peter Jewett, chairman of the corporate department at Torys LLP. He says there will also be a more vigorous emphasis on the policing of public markets, much in the same way as the US, where the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken a forceful lead in pursuing corporate laggards in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals. Full report in The Globe and Mail