Darren McKall

The applicant, BMO Investments Inc., applied for exemptive relief on behalf of its investment funds from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought to permit the funds to invest up to 10 percent of their net asset value in securities of actively-managed investment funds formed under BMO UCITS ETF ICAV, an Irish collective asset-management vehicle.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, subject to conditions ensuring the underlying funds are subject to substantially similar regulatory requirements and that the investments comply with other applicable disclosure and concentration limits.

Brompton Funds Limited applied for exemptive relief on behalf of its exchange-traded mutual funds to permit investments in closed-end funds not offering securities under a simplified prospectus, and to pay brokerage fees for such trades.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptions from paragraphs 2.5(2)(a) and 2.5(2)(e) of National Instrument 81-102, subject to conditions including a 10% net asset value limit on such investments.

The applicant applied for exemptive relief on behalf of proposed exchange-traded funds from certain prospectus form, underwriter's certificate, take-over bid, and sales and redemptions requirements.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptions, subject to conditions including the filing of a simplified prospectus and annual information form, and compliance with specific provisions of National Instrument 81-102 for both mutual fund and ETF securities.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief on behalf of three alternative mutual funds from various provisions of National Instrument 81-102.

The requested relief would permit the funds to borrow cash, sell securities short, use specified derivatives, appoint certain sub-custodians, and pay performance-based incentive fees in excess of standard mutual fund limits, consistent with the proposed Alternative Funds Framework.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptions, subject to extensive conditions regarding disclosure, leverage limits, and compliance monitoring, until the Alternative Funds Framework comes into force.

CIBC Asset Management Inc., as manager of the CIBC Multi-Asset Absolute Return Strategy, applied for exemptive relief from the 90-day deadline to file a final prospectus after the receipt of a preliminary prospectus under subsection 2.3(1.1) of NI 41-101.

The Director of the Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, subject to the condition that the final prospectus be filed by October 13, 2018.

Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief from the inter-fund trading prohibitions in National Instrument 81-102 and National Instrument 31-103.

The applicant sought to permit certain Canadian and U.S. funds and client accounts to engage in inter-fund trades of debt and exchange-traded securities.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including independent review committee approval, compliance with U.S. inter-fund trading rules for cross-border trades, and periodic reporting requirements.

Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. applied for exemptive relief from the inter-fund trading prohibitions in National Instrument 81-102 and National Instrument 31-103.

The relief sought to permit Canadian and U.S. investment funds and managed accounts to engage in inter-fund trades of debt and exchange-traded securities, subject to certain conditions including independent review committee approval and pricing at the last sale price.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, finding it to be in the best interests of the clients by potentially lowering trading costs and reducing market disruption.

BMO Asset Management Inc. applied for exemptive relief under section 19.1 of National Instrument 81-102 to permit certain mutual funds to invest up to 10% of their net asset value in units of underlying alternative funds that are not subject to NI 81-102 and whose securities are not qualified for distribution in the local jurisdiction.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, subject to conditions including compliance with specified investment restrictions and disclosure requirements.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief on behalf of its mutual funds to be exempt from certain prospectus form requirements, underwriter's certificate requirements, take-over bid requirements, and sales and redemption requirements for its exchange-traded series and mutual fund series.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including filing a simplified prospectus and annual information form, providing ETF Facts to dealers, and complying with specific parts of NI 81-102 for each respective series.

Ninepoint Partners LP applied for exemptive relief from the prohibition in section 4.2(1) of National Instrument 81-102 to permit its managed investment funds to purchase and sell debt securities between each other.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the relief, subject to conditions including that the trades are consistent with the funds' investment objectives, approved by the independent review committee, and comply with section 6.1(2) of National Instrument 81-107.

The applicant applied for exemptive relief on behalf of several exchange-traded mutual funds.

The requested relief included exemptions from the requirement to include an underwriter's certificate in the funds' prospectuses and from the take-over bid requirements for purchasers of listed securities in the normal course.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptions, subject to conditions regarding the delivery of ETF Facts documents and prospectus disclosure.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief from the borrowing restrictions in National Instrument 81-102 to permit the Purpose Floating Rate Income Fund to borrow cash up to 20% of its net asset value.

The borrowing is intended as a temporary measure to accommodate requests for redemptions of units due to the longer settlement periods associated with the Fund's investments in senior secured floating rate corporate loans.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions ensuring the borrowing is used strictly for settlement gap funding and does not create leverage.

The applicant investment fund manager applied for exemptive relief on behalf of its mutual funds from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought to permit the funds to invest in silver, silver derivatives, and various exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including leveraged and inverse ETFs.

The principal regulator granted the exemption, subject to conditions limiting the funds' exposure to physical commodities and specific ETFs, and requiring prospectus disclosure of the investments and associated risks.

The Filer, Edgehill Partners, applied for exemptive relief on behalf of several alternative mutual funds from various provisions of National Instrument 81-102 Investment Funds.

The requested relief included exemptions related to single issuer concentration limits, specified derivatives, cash borrowing, short selling, custody of borrowed assets, and incentive fees.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, subject to several conditions including specific disclosure requirements, leverage limits, and distribution restrictions, to allow the funds to implement their alternative investment strategies.

Purpose Investments Inc. applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for approval to merge several terminating mutual funds into corresponding continuing funds under section 5.5(1)(b) of National Instrument 81-102.

Pre-approval under section 5.6 was unavailable because the investment objectives were not substantially similar, some mergers were taxable, and closed-end fund securityholders lacked prior redemption rights.

The Commission granted the requested exemptive relief, subject to securityholder approval, finding the mergers would reduce duplication, lower costs, and increase portfolio diversification.

The applicant applied for exemptive relief from the seed capital requirements of section 3.2 of National Instrument 81-104 Commodity Pools on behalf of a proposed mutual fund.

The applicant sought to instead comply with the initial investment requirements in section 3.1 of National Instrument 81-102 Investment Funds, consistent with proposed amendments by the Canadian Securities Administrators.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemption, provided the applicant complies with the NI 81-102 requirements and discloses the redemption basis in the final prospectus.

The Filer applied on behalf of the Fund for exemptive relief from section 7.1 of National Instrument 81-102 to permit a proposed performance bonus structure.

The proposed changes reduce the fixed management and investment advisory fees while modifying the performance bonus hurdles and thresholds to reflect current market conditions.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, revoking and replacing a previous decision, subject to specific conditions regarding the calculation and payment of the fees before and after September 1, 2018.

The applicant, FT Portfolios Canada Co., applied for exemptive relief from the requirements of paragraphs 15.3(4)(c) and 15.3(4)(f) of National Instrument 81-102 Investment Funds.

The relief was sought to permit the applicant's exchange-traded mutual funds to reference FundGrade A+ Awards and FundGrade Ratings in their sales communications.

The principal regulator granted the exemption, subject to specific disclosure requirements and conditions regarding the timeliness and calculation of the referenced awards and ratings.

Evolve Funds Group Inc. applied for exemptive relief from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102 to permit its mutual funds to invest in securities of exchange-traded funds that are not index participation units.

The requested relief included exemptions from the concentration restriction, the control restriction, the simplified prospectus requirement, and the prohibition on paying brokerage fees for related underlying ETFs.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptions, subject to conditions including that the investments align with the funds' objectives and that the underlying ETFs are listed on a recognized Canadian exchange.

The applicant applied for exemptive relief to approve the merger of a terminating non-redeemable investment fund into a continuing exchange-traded mutual fund under paragraph 5.5(1)(b) of NI 81-102.

Regulatory approval was required because the funds did not have substantially similar fundamental investment objectives, precluding reliance on the pre-approval criteria in section 5.6.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, provided that the applicant obtains prior approval from the unitholders of the terminating fund.