Darren McKall

The filer, Royal Mutual Funds Inc., applied for an exemption from the commingling prohibitions in sections 11.1(1)(b) and 11.2(1)(b) of National Instrument 81-102.

The filer sought to commingle cash received for the purchase or redemption of mutual fund securities with cash received for other permitted securities, specifically a high interest savings account product.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemptive relief, subject to the condition that the relief terminates if changes to the MFDA IPC rules reduce coverage relating to commingled trust monies.

The filer applied for exemptive relief on behalf of certain mutual funds and commodity pools from various provisions of National Instrument 81-102 relating to securities lending transactions.

The funds invest in a passive portfolio of Canadian equity securities pledged to a counterparty under forward contracts.

The relief permits the funds to lend up to 100% of their equity portfolio using an agent that is not the fund's custodian, subject to specific conditions regarding collateral and security interests.

The principal regulator granted the requested exemptions.

The applicants, a limited partnership and its promoter, applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for an exemption from the requirement to file an annual information form under National Instrument 81-106.

The partnership had a short lifespan, no secondary market, and all units held by public investors had been redeemed.

The Commission granted the exemption, noting that the partnership would still file annual financial statements and management reports of fund performance.

The applicants, a limited partnership and its promoter, applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for an exemption from the requirement to file an annual information form under section 9.2 of National Instrument 81-106.

The partnership had a short lifespan, all public units had been redeemed, and it was expected to be dissolved shortly.

The Commission granted the exemption, finding it was not against the public interest and would avoid imposing a material financial burden on the partnership.

The applicant, Goodman & Company, Investment Counsel Ltd., applied for exemptive relief from the self-dealing prohibitions in s. 13.5(2)(b)(iii) of National Instrument 31-103.

The relief was sought to permit the merger of several terminating non-redeemable investment funds into continuing mutual funds, all managed by the applicant.

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

The applicant applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief under National Instrument 81-102.

The applicant sought approval for the merger of several mutual funds where the fundamental investment objectives and fee structures were not substantially similar.

The applicant also sought approval to suspend the redemption rights of the continuing funds for up to five business days following the mergers to facilitate operational steps.

The Commission granted the requested relief, finding that the mergers and temporary suspension of redemption rights were fair and reasonable.

The applicant sought exemptive relief from paragraphs 2.5(2)(a) and (c) of National Instrument 81-102 to permit a commodity pool to gain exposure to another commodity pool implementing a two-tiered structure.

The underlying commodity pool was a reporting issuer but not subject to National Instrument 81-101, and its securities were not qualified for distribution.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including that the exposure aligns with the filer's fundamental investment objectives and that the underlying pool remains a reporting issuer.

The applicant sought exemptive relief from the seed capital requirement under National Instrument 81-104 and the daily net asset value calculation requirement under National Instrument 81-106 for a commodity pool fund.

The relief was requested due to the fund's indirect exposure to another commodity pool that published its net asset value on a weekly basis.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions regarding the maintenance of seed capital and the frequency of net asset value calculations.

The applicant, Navina Capital Corp., applied for exemptive relief on behalf of two funds to permit them to engage in short selling, provide security interests over fund assets, and deposit assets with entities other than the funds' custodian, contrary to National Instrument 81-102.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, subject to several conditions including a 20% cap on short selling, cash cover requirements, and specific disclosure obligations.

The applicant, Meritas Financial Inc., applied for exemptive relief from the requirement to obtain prior securityholder approval for a change of manager of several mutual funds, and for approval of the change of manager.

The change of manager resulted from the acquisition of the applicant by Qtrade Canada Inc. and its subsequent amalgamation with other subsidiaries.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, noting that the funds would continue to be managed as a separate division and that the majority of securityholders were members of the applicant's shareholders who had already approved the transaction.

The applicant, AlphaPro Management Inc., applied for exemptive relief on behalf of several exchange traded mutual funds to permit them to sell securities short, provide a security interest over their assets in connection with such short sales, and deposit assets with borrowing agents as security.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including a limit on short selling to 20% of total net assets and the maintenance of appropriate internal controls and cash cover.

The applicant manager applied on behalf of the fund for exemptive relief under s. 62(5) of the Securities Act to extend the lapse date of its long form prospectus by two days.

The extension was required because the manager made a reasonable error in interpreting the lapse date definition under s. 62(1) of the Act, resulting in the late filing of a pro forma prospectus.

The Principal Regulator found that granting the extension would not be prejudicial to the public interest and granted the requested relief.

The Filer applied for exemptive relief to approve the merger of three terminating mutual funds into three continuing mutual funds.

Approval was required under National Instrument 81-102 because the fee structures of the terminating and continuing funds were not substantially similar, meaning the mergers did not meet the criteria for pre-approval.

The Principal Regulator granted the requested approval, noting the mergers would result in lower management fees, larger net assets, and similar investment objectives for unitholders.

Meritas Financial Inc., the manager of several mutual funds, applied for exemptive relief to extend the lapse date of the funds' simplified prospectus and annual information form from February 6, 2010, to March 31, 2010.

The extension was requested to align the renewal with the completion of the manager's acquisition by Qtrade Canada Inc. and subsequent amalgamation, thereby avoiding the costs of renewing and shortly thereafter amending the prospectus.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the relief, finding that the extension would not affect the currency or accuracy of the prospectus information and would not be prejudicial to the public interest.

The Manager applied for exemptive relief from certain investment restriction and custodian provisions of National Instrument 81-102 on behalf of a mutual fund.

The relief sought to permit the fund to invest up to 100% of its net assets in gold and up to 20% in other precious metals, and to use Brinks or Via Mat as sub-custodians for physical bullion storage.

The principal regulator granted the requested exemptions, subject to conditions regarding investment limits, insurance, and disclosure of unique risks.

The applicant sought exemptive relief from the related issuer and related party investment restrictions under National Instrument 31-103 to permit a fund-on-fund structure.

The top funds, which are classes of a mutual fund corporation, will invest all of their assets in underlying limited partnerships managed by the same portfolio adviser.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the relief subject to standard conditions, including that no duplicative fees are charged and that the top funds' investors are provided with appropriate disclosure and voting rights.

The Filers applied for exemptive relief to approve the merger by way of amalgamation of Front Street Special Opportunities Canadian Fund into New Front Street Special Opportunities Canadian Fund.

The approval was required because the merger did not meet all the pre-approval criteria in section 5.6 of NI 81-102, specifically because the current simplified prospectus and financial statements of the continuing fund were not delivered to shareholders, and the amalgamation might not technically constitute a wind-up.

The principal regulator granted the requested merger approval.

The applicant investment fund sought an exemption from the requirement in National Instrument 81-106 to calculate its net asset value on a daily basis, as it uses specified derivatives.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, permitting the fund to calculate its net asset value on a weekly basis, provided the units remain listed on the TSX and the calculation is made available to the public.

The Filers applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief from mutual fund conflict of interest investment restrictions, consent requirements, and management reporting requirements.

The relief was sought to permit certain pooled funds to invest in underlying funds using a fund-on-fund structure, varying a previous decision to expand the list of top and underlying funds.

The Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including that the pooled funds are distributed on a private placement basis and that no duplicative management fees are payable.

The applicant funds and their manager applied for exemptive relief from Section 2.1 of National Instrument 81-101.

The relief was sought to permit the Bottom Fund in an exchange-traded two-tier structure to file a long form prospectus using Form 41-101F2 rather than a simplified prospectus using Form 81-101F1.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, noting that the use of a simplified prospectus could create confusion in the investment dealer channel where units of the Top Fund will be sold.