Darren McKall

The Sprott Physical Gold Trust applied for exemptive relief from the prospectus heading and ordering requirements of Form 41-101F2 under National Instrument 41-101.

The Trust, a foreign private issuer investing in gold bullion, sought relief only to the extent its prospectus deviated from the prescribed headings and their order, while still complying with substantive disclosure requirements.

The Director of the Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, to be evidenced by the issuance of a receipt for the Trust's prospectus.

The Manager applied for exemptive relief under National Instrument 81-102 to permit the merger of several terminating funds into a continuing fund, and for relief from the requirement to deliver the continuing fund's financial statements to unitholders of the terminating funds.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the relief, provided that the management information circular prominently discloses how unitholders can obtain the financial statements and that the Manager provides them upon request.

The Filer, a fund manager and trustee of various open-end mutual funds, applied for exemptive relief from the commingling prohibition in section 11.1(1)(b) of National Instrument 81-102.

The Filer sought to temporarily commingle mutual fund cash with other cash received for investment in deposits offered by an affiliate in the same trust accounts.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, noting that the Filer had systems in place to properly account for and reconcile the commingled funds daily, and that the interests of clients would not be prejudiced.

The filer, a foreign investment fund, applied for exemptive relief to prepare its financial statements using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and to have them audited using International Standards on Auditing (ISA), rather than Canadian GAAP and GAAS.

The filer also sought relief from the seed capital requirements for commodity pools.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including that the investment manager maintain a minimum excess working capital and not redeem its initial seed capital until the fund receives $5.0 million from other investors.

The Filer, a commodity pool, applied for exemptive relief from the daily net asset value calculation requirement under NI 81-106 and the seed capital requirement under NI 81-104.

The Filer's returns depend on a segregated portfolio that calculates its NAV weekly.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, permitting the Filer to calculate its NAV weekly and exempting it from the seed capital requirement, subject to certain conditions including maintaining excess working capital and reinvestment obligations if the fund's value drops.

The Manager applied on behalf of the Filer, a commodity pool, for exemptive relief from the investment restrictions in National Instrument 81-102.

The relief sought to permit the Filer to make an indirect investment in securities of another commodity pool that is not subject to National Instrument 81-101.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, subject to conditions ensuring compliance with other provisions of National Instrument 81-102 and adequate disclosure to investors.

The Filer applied for approval of a mutual fund merger and exemptive relief from certain simplified prospectus and financial statement delivery requirements under National Instrument 81-102.

The merger did not meet all pre-approval criteria because the fundamental investment objectives of the funds differed and it was not a tax-deferred transaction.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, permitting the merger and allowing the Filer to send a tailored simplified prospectus, provided the information circular clearly disclosed how unitholders could access the financial statements.

Acuity Funds Ltd. applied for exemptive relief under section 5.5(1)(b) of National Instrument 81-102 to merge two terminating mutual funds into two continuing mutual funds.

The approval was required because the mergers did not meet all criteria for pre-approved reorganizations under section 5.6, specifically because the continuing funds had different investment objectives and the mergers were not tax-deferred transactions.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested approval, noting that securityholders were provided with adequate disclosure and the mergers would provide economies of scale and increased portfolio diversification.

Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. applied for exemptive relief from paragraphs 2.5(2)(a) and 2.5(2)(c) of National Instrument 81-102 to permit its Top Funds to invest up to 10% of their net assets in certain mutual funds governed by the laws of Luxembourg.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the relief, subject to conditions including that the underlying funds qualify as UCITS and that the Top Funds divest if Luxembourg laws cease to be materially consistent with Part 2 of NI 81-102.

The Manager applied on behalf of several PowerShares ETFs for exemptive relief under section 19.1 of National Instrument 41-101.

The relief sought was an exemption from subsection 2.3(1), which prohibits filing a final prospectus more than 90 days after the receipt for the preliminary prospectus.

The Director granted the exemption, permitting the final prospectus to be filed no later than June 17, 2009.

The applicants, TDK 2008 Flow-Through Limited Partnership and First Asset Investment Management Inc., applied for exemptive relief from the requirements in National Instrument 81-106 to file an annual information form and to maintain and provide a proxy voting record.

The applicants argued that the partnerships have a short lifespan, are not operating businesses, and the preparation of these documents would not benefit limited partners while imposing a material financial burden.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief.

The applicant, Global Prosperata Funds Inc., applied on behalf of the Global Iman Fund for exemptive relief from section 2.1(e) of National Instrument 81-101.

The relief sought was an extension of the 90-day time limit to file a final prospectus after the receipt of a preliminary prospectus.

The Director of the Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, subject to the condition that the prospectus be filed no later than February 24, 2009.

The manager of several mutual funds applied for exemptive relief from the requirement under National Instrument 81-102 to calculate issue and redemption prices based on the next determined daily net asset value.

The funds intended to use specified derivatives, which requires daily net asset value calculation under National Instrument 81-106, but the manager wished to continue processing purchases and redemptions on a weekly basis to minimize transactional costs for its managed account clients.

The principal regulator granted the exemption, provided the funds calculate their net asset value and value derivative positions daily, use the next weekly net asset value for issue and redemption prices, and restrict investors to those with discretionary management agreements.

The applicants, AIC Limited and several mutual funds, applied for exemptive relief to extend the lapse date of their simplified prospectus from March 3, 2009, to April 10, 2009.

The extension was requested to facilitate the consolidation of the funds' prospectus with the prospectus of other mutual funds under common management, following a series of fund mergers and re-brandings.

The Ontario Securities Commission, acting as principal regulator, granted the requested relief, finding that it would not be prejudicial to the public interest.

The applicants sought exemptive relief from the illiquid assets purchase restriction in National Instrument 81-102 to permit a mutual fund to acquire illiquid assets from a flow-through limited partnership under common management.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the relief, noting that the rollover transaction would result in a minimal increase of illiquid assets and would not impair the fund's ability to meet redemptions.

BNP Paribas S.A. applied for approval of the indirect change of control of Fortis Investment Management Canada Ltd., the manager of the Fortis Global Equity Exposure Fund, under subsection 5.5(2) of National Instrument 81-102.

The change of control resulted from BNP Paribas's acquisition of Fortis Bank Belgium.

The principal regulator granted the approval, noting that the manager would continue to operate in substantially the same manner and that the fund and its unitholders would not be adversely affected.

The filers, CI Investments Inc. and United Financial Corporation, applied on behalf of existing and future mutual funds for exemptive relief from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102 Mutual Funds.

Specifically, the filers sought exemptions from the prohibitions against providing a security interest over a mutual fund's assets, selling securities short, and depositing fund assets with an entity other than the fund's custodian.

The principal regulator granted the requested relief, permitting the funds to engage in short selling up to 20% of their net assets, subject to various conditions including cash cover requirements, internal controls, and specific disclosure obligations in their prospectuses and annual information forms.

The applicant, Mackenzie Financial Corporation, sought exemptive relief from the multi-layering restriction in paragraph 2.5(2)(b) of National Instrument 81-102.

The relief was requested to permit the Symmetry Top Funds to invest in the Symmetry Equity Pool, which in turn invests more than 10% of its assets in the Symmetry Equity Class.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the exemption, finding that the proposed three-tier fund structure was no more complex than existing permitted structures and provided adequate transparency and accountability for portfolio management.

The applicant, an exchange-traded mutual fund, applied for exemptive relief from various provisions of National Instrument 81-102 Mutual Funds.

The requested relief included exemptions from restrictions on borrowing, investments, organizational costs, calculation and payment of redemptions, preparation of compliance reports, and the record date for payment of distributions.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, noting that the requirements intended principally for conventional mutual funds in continuous distribution were largely not applicable to the applicant and that the relief would not be prejudicial to investors.

The Filer, Invesco Trimark Ltd., applied for exemptive relief from certain provisions of National Instrument 81-102 for its exchange-traded funds.

The requested relief included exemptions to permit purchases and sales of units on the TSX, to accept a combination of cash and securities for subscriptions, to redeem less than the prescribed number of units at a discount, and to establish a record date for distributions in accordance with TSX rules.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptive relief, subject to specified conditions.