Seems that the EMD has a great deal of value

What is the use of the registration Exempt Market Dealer EMD? After a lengthy discussion, I learnt that there is a long list of reasons the EMD brings value to both business owners and investors, such as reporting in to a regulatory body bringing protection to business owners. Then there are a slew of the hidden benefits for the Canadian economy.

In Halifax, the EMDA held a meeting at Cox and Palmer's beautiful law offices, situated right on the shoreline where military ships sat in the harbor and massive cargo ships slowly pulled into sight, arriving from distant lands. Patrick Fitzgerald, the expert in financially oriented law, was gracious enough to show me around the offices and to view their fine art collection. 
The EMDA event was well worth the trip to Halifax.  It reminded me how fortunate we are to live in this peaceful, safe and secure land. It seems fitting that our business opportunities and transactions offer the same protections to our business stakeholders. 
Canada is attractive as a place to do business because of its high ethics and legal protection. We are moving up in the globe because of registrations such as the EMD.

 The Securities Commission people also presented an interesting presentation, posing questions for the industry. It turned into a fantastically useful debate - still  being resolved over the next few years, mind you. 

I was particularly taken with the thoughtfulness and respect for business owners by the regulators - not the image one often gets from the media. Thank you for that, Nova Scotia!

3 Websites to Ruin Your Day

With American companies and consumers as Canada's prime market base, here are three websites to ruin your day completely: 

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/  

http://www.mygovcost.org/ 

Now go and do something you enjoy - you deserve it!

Do Not Confuse Cyclical with Structural

The creator of the Buttonwood column in The Economist flew into Toronto from London to give a wide-ranging speech on the state of the world and how the economics, and investing, would play out over the next few years. Richard Cookson, now with the impressive Citi bank, treated us and scared us by explaining that in the developed world, we have too few assets for all the investment dollars to get the returns that they want. Citi is investing very carefully into the emerging markets but with the Middle East unrest, the risk costs are rising rapidly. 
As Richard says, "Egypt matters as now investors have to add higher risk to emerging markets."
My favourite nugget was Richard's elegant statement, 
"It is a cardinal error to confuse cyclical change with structural change." 
Citi's breakfast speaker series run by  Peter Charrington, CEO, North America, certainly highlighted the details of why we are in a time of great structural shifts. I'm sure Peter would welcome a call for more information. 
Contact: Leslie Bains +1 (212) 559-2216

Now Here's How to Push up Innovation

I am blown away every time I appear on BNN The Pitch by the business owners looking to raise capital. I am impressed with the sheer guts of these entrepreneurs to go on TV, pitch their business and then take a hammering from the private equity people. Their willingness to give it a go is the ability that truly sets apart the wheat from the chaff.
In this show, Matthew Thompson of Protranscript, absolutely nails his presentation and should be able to raise more money than he is seeking with his entrepreneurial drive.
 Andrew Bell introduces the panel: Rick Nathan, Managing Director, Kensington Capital Partners, Stewart Thornhill, Executive Director, Pierre L. Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship, Richard Ivey School of Business, Jacoline Loewen, Director of Loewen & Partners.
I apologize for the link below. I wish I could embed the video but I guess BNN wants you to go to their website. So here it is:
http://watch.bnn.ca/the-pitch/february-2011/the-pitch-february-16-2011/

Universities slow to understand private equity's importance

Slowly the universities are beginning to see that private equity is here to stay and is morphing into ever more useful formations. Useful to developing an economy chock block full of entrepreneurial businesses flourishing because they are being fed enough capital by high risk takers, not bankers.
I thought that you may be interested in a source of private equity materials. Wharton's has a new section on its website with PE articles:  Read Here.
The link was sent to me by Leah Noble, CA, JD/MBA and UWO Faculty of Law/Richard Ivey School of Business. Yes, Leah has a a CA and nearly and MBA/law degree combined and a great personality too.