Darren McKall

The applicant applied for exemptive relief on behalf of its alternative mutual funds from certain short selling and concentration restrictions under National Instrument 81-102.

The requested relief would permit the funds to short sell securities up to 100% of NAV, short sell government securities up to 300% of NAV, and invest up to 35% of net assets in foreign government securities.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including aggregate exposure limits and prospectus disclosure requirements.

The Filer applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief from the requirement in subsection 6.1(1) of National Instrument 81-102, which mandates that all portfolio assets of an investment fund be held by a single custodian.

The Filer sought to appoint multiple custodians, specifically prime brokers, to facilitate short selling and securities lending strategies.

The Commission granted the exemption, subject to conditions requiring a single entity to reconcile all portfolio assets and the Filer to maintain appropriate operational systems.

The applicant applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief to extend the time limits for the renewal of the simplified prospectus of the Purpose Structured Equity Yield Portfolio.

The extension was requested to allow the applicant to file a combined preliminary and pro forma simplified prospectus for both the existing fund and a newly created fund, thereby reducing renewal costs and streamlining disclosure.

The Commission granted the requested relief, extending the lapse date to October 23, 2020.

CIBC Asset Management Inc. applied for exemptive relief on behalf of several mutual funds to permit the funds to file a simplified prospectus for their ETF series instead of a long form prospectus, and to treat the ETF series and mutual fund series as separate funds for the purposes of the sales and redemptions requirements under NI 81-102.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to certain disclosure and compliance conditions.

The applicant applied for exemptive relief on behalf of its mutual funds and alternative mutual funds from the requirement under s. 6.1(1) of NI 81-102 that all portfolio assets be held by a single custodian.

The relief sought to permit the funds to deposit portfolio assets with a borrowing agent (Prime Broker) that is not the fund's custodian in connection with short sales, up to certain limits.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, finding it not prejudicial to the public interest, provided the funds otherwise comply with subsections 6.8.1(2) and (3) of NI 81-102.

The Filer, BMO Asset Management Inc., applied for exemptive relief from the self-dealing restriction in National Instrument 31-103.

The relief sought would permit the Filer, on behalf of its private funds and managed accounts, to purchase or sell debt securities from or to a responsible person or associate that is a principal dealer in the secondary market.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, finding it was not prejudicial to the public interest, subject to conditions including independent review committee approval, compliance with conflict of interest requirements, and execution at available bid/ask prices.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief under National Instrument 81-102 to permit the merger of the Manulife Floating Rate Income Fund into the Manulife U.S. Unconstrained Bond Fund.

The relief was required because the funds' investment objectives were not substantially similar and the merger would not be completed on a tax-deferred basis.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to the Filer obtaining prior approval from the securityholders of the terminating fund.

The applicant, CI Investments Inc., applied on behalf of the CI First Asset U.S. Trendleaders Index ETF for exemptive relief from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought to permit the ETF to invest indirectly in gold through the SPDR Gold Trust up to 33 1/3 percent of its net asset value, and to invest in the SPDR Gold Trust despite it not qualifying as an index participation unit or an investment fund subject to NI 81-102.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including that the investment is solely to track the index and that appropriate prospectus disclosure is made.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief on behalf of existing and future alternative mutual funds from the borrowing and short selling limits in National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought to permit the funds to borrow up to 100% of their net asset value for a cash currency hedging strategy, and to borrow cash or short sell securities up to 100% of their net asset value for leverage strategies.

The principal regulator granted the exemption, finding that the strategies were consistent with the funds' investment objectives and that the physical shorting and borrowing strategies were more efficient and less costly than using specified derivatives, subject to conditions including aggregate leverage limits and prospectus disclosure.

The Manager applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for approval of a change of control pursuant to subsection 5.5(1)(a.1) of National Instrument 81-102.

The change of control resulted from a reorganization of the Timbercreek Group, transferring voting shares to a holding company owned by a co-founder.

The Commission granted the requested exemptive relief, noting that the Manager would continue to operate the Fund without substantive changes to its management, fees, or operations.

The applicant, Franklin Templeton Investments Corp., applied for exemptive relief on behalf of Templeton Growth Fund (the Continuing Fund) from section 4.4 of National Instrument 81-106.

The relief sought to permit the Continuing Fund to include the financial data and past performance of Templeton Growth Fund, Ltd. (the Terminating Fund) in its management reports of fund performance following a tax-deferred merger.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, finding that treating the Continuing Fund as fungible with the Terminating Fund for financial data purposes would benefit investors and avoid confusion.

The applicant, Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc., applied on behalf of the Horizons Global Risk Parity ETF for an order that the fund has ceased to be a reporting issuer in all jurisdictions of Canada.

The principal regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission, found that the fund met the requirements, including having fewer than 51 securityholders worldwide and no securities traded on a marketplace.

The order was granted.

The applicants, managers of various mutual funds, applied for exemptive relief from the requirement in National Instrument 81-102 that a money market fund must hold only securities with a designated rating.

Due to the economic slowdown related to COVID-19, certain high-quality securities were downgraded below the designated rating threshold.

The principal regulator granted the exemption, allowing the funds to continue describing themselves as money market funds and to hold the downgraded securities, provided the securities had a designated rating at the time of purchase and continue to hold a Temporary Acceptable Rating.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief on behalf of certain alternative mutual funds to extend the lapse date of their simplified prospectus and to permit the consolidation of their simplified prospectus with that of conventional mutual funds managed by the Filer.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, finding that consolidating the prospectuses would reduce costs and facilitate comparison for investors, and that the lapse date extension would not prejudice the public interest.

The applicant, CI Investments Inc., applied on behalf of its managed investment funds for exemptive relief from subsection 6.1(1) of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought would permit the funds to appoint more than one custodian, specifically allowing the appointment of prime brokers as additional custodians to increase operational efficiency and reduce execution risk.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, subject to conditions requiring proper reconciliation of portfolio assets and limiting the additional custodians' roles to the assets transferred to them.

TD Asset Management Inc. applied for exemptive relief on behalf of its investment funds to permit investments in related underlying infrastructure and real estate pools.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted relief from related issuer, consent requirement, reporting, and self-dealing restrictions, subject to conditions including independent valuation of underlying assets, independent review committee approval, and compliance with illiquid asset restrictions.

The applicant, a registered investment fund manager and portfolio manager, applied for exemptive relief from the trading prohibition in paragraph 13.5(2)(b) of National Instrument 31-103.

The relief sought would permit in specie transactions between managed accounts and pooled funds, and between different pooled funds managed by the applicant.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, revoking a previous decision and replacing it with the current relief, subject to conditions including prior written consent from clients, valuation requirements, and record-keeping obligations.

The applicant sought approval for the reorganization of an existing exchange-traded fund into a continuing fund, and exemptive relief from certain investment restrictions under NI 81-102.

The reorganization could not rely on pre-approval provisions because the fundamental investment objectives and fee structures were not substantially similar.

The principal regulator granted the requested approval and exemptive relief, permitting the continuing fund to hold 100% of the voting securities of the existing fund after it ceases to be a reporting issuer, subject to unitholder approval and other conditions.

The Filers applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for approval to merge the Return on Innovation Fund Inc. into the Stone Growth Fund under subsection 5.5(1)(b) of National Instrument 81-102.

The merger did not meet all pre-approval criteria under section 5.6 because the managers were not affiliates, the investment objectives and fee structures were not substantially similar, and the merger would be completed on a taxable basis.

The Commission granted the requested exemptive relief, provided that the Filers obtain prior approval from the shareholders of the terminating funds.

The Filer applied on behalf of the Terminating Fund for approval of a proposed merger into the Continuing Fund under paragraph 5.5(1)(b) of National Instrument 81-102.

The merger did not meet all pre-approval criteria under section 5.6 because the investment objectives and fee structures were not substantially similar, and the merger would not be a qualifying exchange under the Income Tax Act.

The principal regulator granted the requested approval, provided that the Filer obtains prior approval from the securityholders of the Terminating Fund.