Canada Business Corporations Act

Marginal note:Limited duty of inquiry

• 78 (1) An issuer to whom a security is presented for registration has a duty to inquire into adverse claims if

  • (a) written notice of an adverse claim has been received at a time and in a manner that affords the issuer a reasonable opportunity to act on it before the issue of a new, reissued or re-registered security and the notice discloses the name and address of the claimant, the registered owner and the issue of which the security is a part; or

  • (b) the issuer is deemed to have notice of an adverse claim from a document that it obtained under subsection 77(7).

• Marginal note:Discharge of duty

  (2) An issuer may discharge a duty of inquiry by any reasonable means, including notifying an adverse claimant by registered mail sent to the address furnished by the claimant or, if no such address has been furnished, to the claimant’s residence or regular place of business, that a security has been presented for registration of transfer by a named person, and that the transfer will be registered unless within thirty days from the date of mailing the notice either

  • (a) the issuer is served with a restraining order or other order of a court; or

  • (b) the issuer is provided with an indemnity bond sufficient in the issuer’s judgment to protect the issuer and any registrar, transfer agent or other agent of the issuer from any loss that may be incurred by any of them as a result of complying with the adverse claim.

• Marginal note:Inquiry into adverse claims

  (3) Unless an issuer is deemed to have notice of an adverse claim from a document that it obtained under subsection 77(7) or has received notice of an adverse claim under subsection (1), if a security presented for registration is endorsed by the appropriate person as defined in section 65, the issuer has no duty to inquire into adverse claims, and in particular,

  • (a) an issuer registering a security in the name of a person who is a fiduciary or who is described as a fiduciary is not bound to inquire into the existence, extent or correct description of the fiduciary relationship and thereafter the issuer may assume without inquiry that the newly registered owner continues to be the fiduciary until the issuer receives written notice that the fiduciary is no longer acting as such with respect to the particular security;

  • (b) an issuer registering transfer on an endorsement by a fiduciary has no duty to inquire whether the transfer is made in compliance with the document or with the law of the jurisdiction governing the fiduciary relationship; and

  • (c) an issuer is deemed not to have notice of the contents of any court record or any registered document even if the record or document is in the issuer’s possession and even if the transfer is made on the endorsement of a fiduciary to the fiduciary or the fiduciary’s nominee.

• Marginal note:Duration of notice

  (4) A written notice of adverse claim received by an issuer is effective for twelve months from the date when it was received unless the notice is renewed in writing.