Preface

• Author: Christopher C. Nicholls, Jeffrey G. Macintosh
• Pages: 23-25

PREFACE

In the

final

months

of

2001,

as we

were completing

the

manuscript

for

this book,

two

events shook

the

North American capital markets.

The

first,

of

course,

was the

stunning terrorist attack

of 11

September.

The

second

was the

December bankruptcy

of

Enron Corp. These

two

events, paradoxically, revealed

at

once both

the

fragility

of the

capital

markets

and

their resilience.

They also demonstrated

the

close inter-relationship between

the

social, political

and

financial worlds.

The

financial markets

are not a

thing apart

from

ordinary human experience. They

are

very much

a

part

of it.

Yet, despite

the

importance

of the

capital markets

to the

Canadian economy

— and so to the

material well-being

of all

Canadians,

and the

political well-being

of our

country

—

there

is

very

little

general public awareness

of how

they

function,

let

alone

how

they

are

regulated. Business students might encounter

a few

pages

in a

stan-

dard

business

law

textbook outlining securities regulation

in

general

terms;

and law

students

at

most

— but not all —

Canadian

law

schools

might choose

an

upper year elective course

in

securities regulation.

But

we

believe

it

would

be of

considerable benefit

for

more

business

man-

agers, lawyers, public policy makers,

and

investors

to be

introduced

to

the

fundamental principles

and

basic rules constituting modern secu-

rities

regulation

in

Canada. This book

is

written

in

particular

for law

and

business

students.

However,

we

hope that

we

have included

suffi-

cient detail that practising lawyers

and

business managers

may

also

find

it a

useful

source

for

preliminary

reference

and

quick

study.

The

book contains discussion

of

most

of the

topics canvassed

in an

introductory

law

school course

in

securities regulation.

In

chapter

1,

we

offer

a

general overview

of the

Canadian capital markets, together

with

an

introduction

— at a

conceptual,

not a

legal, level

— to

finan-

cial instruments

and the

markets

in

which they trade.

We

expect this

opening chapter will

be of

most

use to

those readers approaching their

study

of

securities

law

with little

or no

prior

business

background.

xxiii