Darren McKall

The filer applied on behalf of the Aston Hill Capital Growth Fund for exemptive relief from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102 Mutual Funds.

The fund, converting from a closed-end investment fund to an open-end mutual fund, sought relief from the seed capital requirement and the prohibition against reimbursement of organization costs.

Additionally, the fund sought relief to permit it to short sell up to 20% of its net assets, subject to specific conditions including cash cover and marked-to-market limits.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, finding it appropriate and subject to the fund maintaining appropriate internal controls and providing adequate disclosure to securityholders.

The Filer applied on behalf of the Fund for an exemption from the requirement in Section 5.1(a) of NI 81-102 to obtain prior unitholder approval to replace the benchmark index used for calculating the Fund's performance fee.

The original index ceased to be calculated, and the Filer proposed a new index that is substantially similar and will not result in a material increase to the fee.

The Principal Regulator granted the requested exemption, finding that the costs of convening a unitholder meeting would significantly outweigh any benefits.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief on behalf of the AGF Precious Metals Fund to permit the Fund to invest in precious metals indirectly through ETFs and derivatives, including leveraged and inverse ETFs.

The Filer also sought relief to permit the Fund to hold physical bullion outside of Canada and to use Brinks and Via Mat as sub-custodians.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptions, subject to various conditions regarding investment limits, concentration restrictions, and sub-custodian oversight.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief from the pre-approval criteria in subsection 5.6(1) of National Instrument 81-102 to permit the amalgamation of two mutual fund corporations.

The relief was required because the continuing fund did not have a current simplified prospectus and the funds were not continuously distributed.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, noting that shareholders received prospectus-level disclosure in the management information circular and the amalgamation would provide benefits such as enhanced trading liquidity and lower management fees.

The applicant, a portfolio manager and manager of a mutual fund, applied for an exemption from section 2.1(1) of National Instrument 81-102 to allow the fund to invest more than 10% of its net asset value in debt securities issued by foreign governments or supranational agencies.

The principal regulator granted the exemption, subject to conditions including credit rating requirements, market liquidity, consistency with the fund's investment objectives, and prospectus disclosure of the exemption and associated risks.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief under National Instrument 81-102 to permit the Sprott Silver Bullion Fund to invest up to 100% of its net assets in silver bullion and silver certificates.

The Filer also sought relief to permit the physical silver bullion to be held outside of Canada by sub-custodians Brinks or Via Mat, which are not entities described in sections 6.2 or 6.3 of NI 81-102.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptions, subject to conditions regarding the fundamental investment objectives, insurance, prospectus disclosure, and compliance reporting.

The applicant, an investment fund manager, applied for exemptive relief from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102 to allow the mutual funds it manages to engage in short selling up to 20% of their net assets.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the relief, subject to numerous conditions including limits on the aggregate market value of securities sold short, cash cover requirements, and disclosure obligations to securityholders.

The applicants, Castlerock Investments Inc., CI Investments Inc., and various mutual funds, applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief to extend the lapse date of their simplified prospectuses and annual information forms.

The extension was requested to align the renewal timeline of the Castlerock Funds with that of the CI Affiliated Funds, facilitating the adoption of consistent operational and administrative features following a change of control and proposed amalgamation.

The Commission granted the requested relief, extending the lapse date to July 30, 2011, finding that it would not affect the accuracy of the prospectus information or prejudice the public interest.

The applicant, CIBC Asset Management Inc., applied on behalf of the Frontiers U.S. Equity Currency Neutral Pool for an exemption from the requirement to prepare and file an interim management report of fund performance under section 4.2 of National Instrument 81-106.

The Pool had only been operating for a short period and the applicant was the sole unitholder.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptive relief.

The applicant manager applied for exemptive relief on behalf of several mutual funds to permit them to engage in short selling up to 20% of their net assets.

The principal regulator granted the relief, exempting the funds from subsections 2.6(a), 2.6(c), and 6.1(1) of National Instrument 81-102, subject to conditions including holding adequate cash cover, maintaining internal controls, and providing appropriate disclosure to securityholders.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief on behalf of existing and future mutual funds to invest in exchange-traded funds listed on the London Stock Exchange that would otherwise qualify as index participation units under NI 81-102.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption from concentration, control, and investment restrictions, subject to conditions including that the investments align with the funds' fundamental objectives and that the relief terminates six months after the coming into force of proposed modernization amendments to NI 81-102.

The applicant sought exemptive relief on behalf of existing and future mutual funds to permit them to invest in non-exchange traded debt securities of a related issuer, Sun Life Financial Inc., in the secondary market or on a primary distribution.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the relief, subject to conditions including independent review committee approval, pricing requirements, and limits on the amount of the primary offering the funds can purchase.

The applicant, Goodman & Company, Investment Counsel Ltd., applied on behalf of the Dynamic Global Energy Class mutual fund for exemptive relief from section 2.3(h) of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought to permit the fund to invest in standardized futures with underlying interests in sweet crude oil or natural gas for hedging and non-hedging purposes.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, subject to conditions including that the futures are traded on the NYMEX, settled in cash or offsetting contracts, and subject to specific portfolio limits.

CIBC Asset Management Inc. applied for exemptive relief from the commingling prohibition in section 11.1(1)(b) of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought would permit the fund manager to temporarily commingle client cash related to its open-ended mutual funds with client cash received for investment in deposits offered by an affiliate in the same trust accounts.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, finding it met the statutory test, and revoked a prior decision on the matter.

The Manager applied on behalf of the Fund for exemptive relief from subsection 2.3(1) of National Instrument 41-101, which prohibits filing a final prospectus more than 90 days after the receipt for the preliminary prospectus.

The Director of the Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemption, permitting the final prospectus to be filed no later than March 31, 2011.

The filer, Allbanc Split Corp. II, applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief from sections 10.3 and 10.4(1) of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief was sought to permit the filer to calculate and pay the retraction price for its Series 1 Preferred Shares on a schedule different from the standard mutual fund requirements.

The Commission granted the requested relief, allowing the filer to calculate the retraction price on the applicable Valuation Date and pay it on the Retraction Payment Date as described in its preliminary prospectus.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief on behalf of several mutual funds to permit them to invest in unrated debt securities of Viterra Inc. during a distribution in which an affiliate of the Filer acted as an underwriter.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the relief, finding that the investment was consistent with the funds' objectives and subject to independent review committee approval.

The relief was conditioned on the funds paying no more than the lowest price paid by arm's length purchasers and acquiring no more than 20% of the distributed securities.

NexGen Financial Limited Partnership applied for exemptive relief from the conflict of interest provisions in section 13.5(2)(a) of National Instrument 31-103.

The relief was sought to permit an open-ended mutual fund to acquire the securities of a closed-end fund as part of a merger, where both funds are advised by the same portfolio manager.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, noting that the merger would benefit securityholders through improved economies of scale and that the manager would bear all costs of the merger.

The Filer applied for an exemption from the investment restrictions in sections 2.1(1), 2.2, and 2.4 of National Instrument 81-102 to permit a continuing open-ended mutual fund to temporarily purchase securities of a terminating closed-end fund in connection with a merger.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions regarding disclosure to securityholders and the provision of financial statements.

The applicant, Goodman & Company, Investment Counsel Ltd., applied for exemptive relief on behalf of several mutual funds from the investment prohibition in section 4.1(1) of NI 81-102.

The relief was sought to permit the funds to invest in debt securities of Vermilion Energy Inc. during the distribution period or the 60-day period following, despite the involvement of an affiliated underwriter and the securities lacking an approved rating.

The principal regulator granted the relief, subject to conditions including independent review committee approval, arm's length participation, and pricing restrictions.