Darren McKall

The Filer applied for exemptive relief from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102 to permit its mutual funds to enter into cleared swaps and deposit cash and portfolio assets as margin with a Futures Commission Merchant.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, finding it would not be prejudicial to the public interest and would allow the funds to benefit from reduced trading costs and mitigated risks associated with central clearing of over-the-counter derivatives.

The applicant, Invesco Canada Ltd., applied for exemptive relief from the requirement under section 5.1(1)(f) of National Instrument 81-102 to obtain prior securityholder approval for a proposed reorganization of two mutual funds.

The reorganization was prompted by changes to the Income Tax Act (Canada) that eliminated the favourable tax treatment of derivative forward agreements.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including independent review committee approval and the provision of detailed notice to securityholders at least 60 days prior to the transaction.

The Filer applied on behalf of the Fund for exemptive relief from the requirement to obtain prior securityholder approval before changing the fundamental investment objectives of the Fund under subsection 5.1(1)(c) of National Instrument 81-102.

The change was necessitated by amendments to the Income Tax Act that eliminated the favourable tax treatment of character conversion transactions.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, provided that the Filer sends a written notice to each securityholder at least 30 days before the effective date of the change.

The Filer, Counsel Portfolio Services Inc., applied on behalf of the Brigata Diversified Portfolio for exemptive relief to extend the lapse date of the Fund's simplified prospectus and annual information form.

The extension was requested because the Filer proposed to merge the Fund into another mutual fund, which would eliminate the need for a renewal prospectus.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, extending the lapse date to September 4, 2015, to avoid unnecessary expenses in preparing renewal documents while the merger approval process was underway.

The Filer, Heritage Education Funds Inc., applied to the Director of the Ontario Securities Commission for an extension of the 90-day period to file a final prospectus under subsection 2.3(1.1) of National Instrument 41-101.

The Director granted the requested exemption, permitting the final prospectus to be filed no later than May 29, 2015.

Purpose Investments Inc. applied for exemptive relief on behalf of existing and future mutual funds (the Top Funds) to permit them to invest in securities of exchange-traded mutual funds (the Underlying ETFs) managed by the Filer.

The requested relief sought exemptions from the concentration restriction, control restriction, and restrictions on investing in other mutual funds and paying brokerage commissions under National Instrument 81-102.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including that the investments align with the Top Funds' objectives, no short selling of the Underlying ETFs occurs, and the Underlying ETFs do not use leverage or rely on certain other exemptive relief.

The Filer applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief from subsection 2.3(1) of National Instrument 41-101, which prohibits filing a first amendment to a preliminary prospectus more than 90 days after the receipt for the preliminary prospectus.

The Director granted the requested exemption, subject to the condition that the first amendment be filed by April 30, 2015.

The applicant sought exemptive relief from various provisions of National Instrument 81-102 to permit its mutual funds (Top Funds) to invest in its exchange-traded mutual funds (Underlying ETFs).

The requested relief included exemptions from the concentration restriction, control restriction, fund of funds restriction, and the prohibition on paying brokerage commissions for trades in the Underlying ETFs.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including that the investments align with the Top Funds' objectives, no short selling of Underlying ETFs occurs, and the Underlying ETFs do not use leverage or rely on certain other exemptive relief.

The applicant, Next Edge Capital Corporation, applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for approval to merge two terminating funds into a continuing fund under paragraph 5.5(1)(b) of National Instrument 81-102.

The merger could not proceed under the standard exemption because the continuing fund did not have substantially similar investment objectives, the merger was not a tax-deferred transaction, and certain redemption rights were not available.

The Commission granted the requested exemptive relief, permitting the merger subject to unitholder approval.

The Filer applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief under National Instrument 81-102 to permit the merger of the Terminating Fund into the Continuing Fund.

The relief was required because the merger would not be a 'qualifying exchange' or tax-deferred transaction under the Income Tax Act.

The Commission granted the requested approval, finding that the merger would be beneficial to unitholders and that the Filer had satisfied the applicable criteria for pre-approval, with the exception of the tax-deferred requirement.

Fidelity Investments Canada ULC applied for exemptive relief from the multi-layering prohibition in paragraph 2.5(2)(b) of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought to permit certain top funds to invest in reference funds, which in turn invest more than 10% of their net asset value in third-tier funds.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, finding that the three-tier structure is akin to permitted structures, reduces tracking error, and does not result in duplication of fees, provided the top funds disclose the reference funds in their investment objectives.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief under section 19.1 of National Instrument 81-102 to permit its mutual funds to invest in silver, silver derivatives, and certain exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including leveraged and inverse ETFs.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including limits on the percentage of net asset value that can be invested in these products and prospectus disclosure requirements.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief under section 5.5(1)(b) of National Instrument 81-102 to permit the reorganization and termination of several mutual fund classes into continuing funds.

The reorganization was prompted by changes to the Income Tax Act affecting the tax treatment of derivative forward agreements.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, finding that the reorganization would benefit securityholders by providing a more tax-efficient fund with substantially similar investment objectives without increasing management fees.

The applicant, Tangerine Investment Management Inc., applied for exemptive relief on behalf of its mutual funds from sections 4.1(1) and 4.1(2) of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought to permit the funds to invest in debt securities of an issuer during or shortly after a distribution underwritten by an affiliate, and to invest in securities of a related person despite the funds being dealer-managed.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief subject to several conditions, including independent review committee approval and pricing requirements.

The applicant, an investment fund manager, applied for exemptive relief under National Instrument 81-102 to permit the merger of several terminating mutual funds into continuing mutual funds.

The mergers did not meet all criteria for pre-approved reorganizations because the investment objectives were not substantially similar, the portfolio assets were not acceptable to the continuing funds' advisor, and certain tax and disclosure requirements were not met.

The principal regulator granted the requested exemption, finding that the mergers would benefit securityholders through improved economies of scale and lower operating expenses.

The applicant, FT Portfolio Canada Co., applied for exemptive relief from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102 to permit its mutual funds (the Top Funds) to invest in exchange-traded funds (the Underlying ETFs) managed by the applicant or its affiliates.

The requested relief included exemptions from the concentration restriction, the control restriction, and prohibitions on paying brokerage commissions for trades in the Underlying ETFs.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptions, subject to conditions including that the Top Funds not short sell the Underlying ETFs and that indirect holdings be limited to 10% of net asset value.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief under National Instrument 81-102 to permit its asset allocation mutual funds to invest indirectly in physical commodities (other than gold and silver) through investments in Commodity ETFs.

The Principal Regulator granted the relief, subject to conditions including a 10 percent limit on exposure to physical commodities and specific prospectus disclosure requirements.

The Filer, MD Physician Services Inc., applied for exemptive relief from the fund of funds restrictions in clauses 2.5(2)(a) and (c) of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief was sought to permit four mutual funds managed by the Filer to invest up to 10 percent of their net assets in three specific U.S. exchange traded funds that employ absolute return strategies.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, subject to conditions including that the U.S. ETFs remain subject to the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940 and are not commodity pools.

The applicants, CI Investments Inc. and Lawrence Park Strategic Income Fund, applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief to extend the lapse date of the fund's simplified prospectus and annual information form by 37 days.

The extension was requested to align the fund's prospectus renewal with that of approximately 200 affiliated funds, allowing them to be combined in the same prospectus booklet.

The Commission granted the requested relief, finding that it would not affect the accuracy of the information in the prospectus and would not be prejudicial to the public interest.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief from the mutual fund conflict of interest restrictions in the Securities Act and the self-dealing prohibition in National Instrument 31-103.

The relief was sought to allow the Top Funds to invest in the Underlying Funds, which are under common management by the Filer or its affiliates.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including that the Top Funds are distributed solely pursuant to prospectus exemptions, the investments are compatible with the Top Funds' fundamental objectives, and there is no duplication of management or incentive fees.