March 19 (Reuters) - Canadian securities regulators on

Thursday announced a pilot project to allow smaller issuers to

voluntarily adopt a semi-annual financial reporting framework,

in a bid to ease the regulatory burden for public companies.

The move by the Canadian Securities Administrators mirrors a

similar push in the United States, where regulators are working

on fast-tracking President Donald Trump's call to nix quarterly

corporate disclosure requirements.

The CSA is an umbrella organization for Canada's provincial

and territorial securities regulators.

Under the pilot project, eligible so-called venture issuers

listed on the TSX Venture Exchange or the CNSX Markets will be

exempted from the requirement to file first- and third-quarter

financial reports.

Canada is working to reinvigorate its dormant IPO market and

reverse years-long shrinkage of publicly traded companies,

driven by delistings and takeovers.

"The semi-annual financial reporting pilot is a great

example of harmonization by Canada's regulators to support the

competitiveness of Canadian capital markets, particularly for

smaller venture issuers," said Stan Magidson, CSA Chair and

Chair and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission.

Issuers must have revenue of less than C$10 million ($7.3

million) and at least a 12-month continuous disclosure record to

be eligible to report on a semi-annual basis under the pilot

project.

TMX Group ( TMXXF ), Canada's top exchange, is pushing for the

newly proposed rules to also include larger publicly listed

companies, CEO John McKenzie told Reuters last week.

The CSA plans to use the learnings from the pilot and work

on a broader rule-making project related to voluntary

semi-annual financial reporting for eligible companies.

While quarterly reporting provides timely information to

investors and market participants, some stakeholders argue the

cost of preparing such disclosures creates burden for smaller

issuers.

Critics, however, argue that relaxing disclosure

requirements and reducing cost of going public often comes at

the expense of investors.

($1 = 1.3732 Canadian dollars)