Peter Bell Working Papers
Published November 26, 2025 | Version v5
Working paper Open

Number of CTOs from BCSC 2000-2025

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon ORCID

Description

This paper presents data on all Cease Trade Orders issued by the British Columbia Securities Commission, with basic descriptive statistics and a discussion. The dataset consists of all CTOs issued since 2000 that are still active as of October 31, 2025. These active CTOs function like a permanent shutdown of the company in terms of the ability to raise equity capital directly in BC. However, many companies subject to CTO in BC are still actively trading stock in secondary markets in the USA and elsewhere. A foreign company subject to the CTO in BC is still active, but what about shareholders in BC who cannot trade? How many such companies are affected by these orders, and what are the economic impacts of the orders?  

Abstract (English)

 

Keywords: Capital Markets, Law, Halt, Cease Trade Order, Stranded Capital, Government Policy, Failure Rates 
JEL Codes: 


A1 - General Economics
B4 - Economic Methodology 
B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches
C8 - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs 
C81 - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access (154)
D2 - Production and Organizations
D22 - Firm B Behaviour Empirical Analysis (223)
D6 - Welfare Economics 
D62 - Externalities 
D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty 
D82 - Asymmetric and Private Information ; Mechanism Design 
E3 - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles (2889)
E32 - Business Fluctuations ; Cycles
F6 - Economic Impacts of Globalization 
F64 - Environment 
G3 - Corporate Finance and Governance
H1 - Structure and Scope of Government
H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue 
H23 - Externalities ; Redistributive Effects ; Environmental
 Taxes and Subsidies 
 Policies 
H57 - Procurement 
H8 - Miscellaneous Issues (352)
H82 - Governmental Property
K2 - Regulation and Business Law
K22 - Business and Securities Law 
K23 - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law 
K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behaviour 
L5 - Regulation and Industrial Policy
L7 - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction
O13 - Agriculture ; Natural Resources ; Energy ;
 Environment Other Primary Products 
O2 - Development Planning and Policy
P11 - Planning, Coordination, and Reform
P16 - Political Economy
Q3 - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation
Q32 - Exhaustible Resources and Economic Development
Q33 - Resource Booms 

 

References  


SEDAR, (November 26, 2025). https://www.sedarplus.ca/csa-order/

Canadian Securities Administrators, (August 23, 2012), “CSA Staff Notice 11-318: Guidance for Cease Trade Order Database User,” https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/-/media/PWS/Resources/Securities_Law/Policies/Policy1/11318_CSA_Staff_Notice_Aug2312.pdf 

 

Files

2025-11-26-Descriptive Statistics for all active CTO in BC 2000-2025.pdf

Files (257.4 kB)

Additional details

Additional titles

Alternative title
Disclosure Enforcement as Market Governance: Reconstructing Illiquidity and Exclusion in Public Equity Markets
Alternative title
Methods to Estimate the Total Number of Reporting Issuers in BC
Alternative title
Methodology for Measuring Government Performance with Cease Trade Orders in BC 2019-2025
Alternative title
Statistical Analysis of Failure to file cease trade orders from the BCSC 2019-2025

Dates

Created
2025-11-26
Work