* CSA pilot allows semi-annual reporting for smaller

issuers

* Pilot aims to ease regulatory burden, boost IPO market

* New pilot to be voluntary for companies

(Adds quotes from interview in paragraphs 5, 9-10, additional

background in paragraphs 4 and 7)

By Anirban Sen and Arasu Kannagi Basil

NEW YORK, 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. 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, CSA said on Thursday.

The move comes as Canada is working to reinvigorate its

dormant IPO market and reverse years-long shrinkage of publicly

traded companies, following a jump in delistings and buyouts

that resulted in companies being taken private.

The semi-annual financial reporting pilot "is a good example

of our focus at the CSA on reducing regulatory burden for

issuers without compromising investor protections," said CSA

chair Stan Magidson in an interview. Magidson also serves as the

chair and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission.

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.

Companies in many parts of Europe and Asia, as well as

Australia, have been reporting earnings every six months for

several years.

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

broader rule-making project related to voluntary semi-annual

financial reporting for eligible companies.

"There's already been expressions of interest for us to cast

the net more broadly to include all TSX and CSE venture issuers,

or even more broadly, all issuers on a voluntary basis," said

Magidson.

"Depending on how things unfold in America, we're going to

be flexible and agile to be in a position to respond

accordingly. The more people that embrace this, test it, and if

it's accepted, the better it is for prospects of expansion."

While quarterly reporting provides timely information to

investors and market participants, some stakeholders argue the

cost of preparing such disclosures creates a burden for smaller

companies.

($1 = 1.3732 Canadian dollars)