Books in Review Book examines remedies for shareholders

Titled Shareholder Remedies in Canada, the book is intended to help the country’s minority shareholders to protect themselves in the event that company insiders don’t abide by the rules. At 29, Peterson is a corporate lawyer who has found during his years at the University of Toronto Law School that there was little to help him when he was dealing with cases involving the Canadian Securities Act.

“The problem is that securities law is usually practised by elite lawyers who don’t have the time to sit down and write books on the subject,” said Peterson, who was in Toronto recently to promote his book. “What’s available is usually narrow in scope.”

Priced at $185 and with a loose- leaf styling, the book is directed more toward the legal community than the man on the street.

But Peterson’s message to small shareholders is that there are already many cases to guide them if they elect to initiate legal proceedings against a company or its executive officers. He offers a list of them in a volume that covers, among other things, available remedies including derivative actions, statutory offences and breaches of act and regulation.

Potential shareholders can avoid the costs and time involved in challenging the decisions of management by paying attention to what’s involved in shareholders’ rights plans and private placement deals, according to Peterson. “They can make a better decision when they know what alternatives are available to them,” said Peterson, who warns the public not to subscribe to the established thinking that minority shareholders don’t interfere with management decisions.

“Shareholder Remedies in Canada,” by Dennis Peterson. Published by Butterworths Canada Ltd., 500 pages. $185 includes postage. 75 Clegg Road, Markham, Ont. L3R 9Y6. (416) 479-2665 Fax (416) 479-2826.

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