Heather Zordel

The Filers applied for an exemption from the prospectus requirement in connection with the distribution of promissory notes to fund mortgage loans for charitable purposes.

The issuer could not comply with the not-for-profit issuer prospectus exemption and required modifications to the offering memorandum exemption.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to conditions including investment limits, suitability advice from a restricted dealer, and specific reporting requirements.

The Ontario Securities Commission approved a settlement agreement between Staff and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) regarding allegations of supervisory inadequacies in RBC's foreign exchange (FX) trading business from 2011 to 2013.

Staff alleged that RBC failed to promote a culture of compliance, allowing FX traders to inappropriately share confidential customer information with competitors in electronic chat rooms.

RBC acknowledged the conduct was contrary to the public interest, engaged in significant remediation efforts, and agreed to make a voluntary payment of $13,552,000 and pay $800,000 in costs.

The Commission found the settlement to be in the public interest.

The Ontario Securities Commission approved a settlement agreement between Staff and The Toronto-Dominion Bank regarding allegations of supervisory inadequacies in TD's foreign exchange trading business from 2011 to 2013.

Staff alleged that TD failed to promote a culture of compliance, allowing traders to inappropriately share confidential customer information with competitors.

TD acknowledged the conduct and agreed to a voluntary payment of $9,300,900 and $800,000 in costs.

The Commission found the settlement to be in the public interest, noting TD's significant remediation efforts and exemplary cooperation.

The Filer, Real Estate Asset Liquidity Trust, applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for an order to cease being a reporting issuer in all applicable Canadian jurisdictions.

The Filer is a special purpose entity that issues mortgage pass-through certificates and has no other issued and outstanding securities.

The Filer demonstrated that it meets the requirements to cease being a reporting issuer, as its certificates are held by sophisticated investors, are rated by rating agencies, and detailed financial information continues to be provided to certificate holders via a reporting agent's website.

The Commission granted the order, determining that the Filer is no longer a reporting issuer in any jurisdiction of Canada.

Ava Trade Ltd., a British Virgin Islands-based entity, opened and operated approximately 1400 accounts for Ontario investors to trade contracts for differences (CFDs) without being registered or filing a prospectus.

Staff of the Commission and Ava Trade reached a settlement agreement acknowledging these breaches of the Securities Act.

The Commission approved the settlement, which included an administrative penalty of $550,000, disgorgement of $3.7 million, and costs of $25,000, finding it to be in the public interest.

BMO Asset Management Inc. applied for exemptive relief on behalf of certain top funds to permit them to invest in underlying funds managed by the same manager or its affiliates.

The relief sought exemptions from the related issuer investment restrictions and the consent requirement for investments in issuers where a responsible person has a significant interest.

The Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested relief, subject to several conditions including objective pricing, fee duplication prohibitions, and specific disclosure requirements.

The applicant, an investment fund manager, applied to the Ontario Securities Commission for exemptive relief from subsection 5.1(a) of National Instrument 81-105.

The applicant sought permission to pay participating dealers for direct costs related to cooperative marketing initiatives where the primary purpose is to provide educational information concerning financial planning matters.

The Commission granted the requested exemption, subject to several conditions, including that the applicant does not require dealers to sell its funds and that the educational materials contain only general information.

The applicants sought exemptive relief from continuous disclosure, certification, and insider reporting requirements for a subsidiary following its acquisition via a plan of arrangement.

As the subsidiary became wholly-owned and its only outstanding public securities were warrants exercisable for the parent company's shares, the Ontario Securities Commission granted the requested exemptions.

The relief was made subject to conditions, including that the parent company continues to meet its reporting obligations and the subsidiary files notices relying on the parent's disclosures.

The Ontario Securities Commission approved a settlement agreement between Staff and Martin Bernholtz, a former director of Titan Medical Inc. Bernholtz admitted to selling shares of Titan while in possession of material non-public information regarding imminent public offerings, contrary to the public interest and the company's insider trading policy.

The settlement included a voluntary payment of $225,000, costs of $75,000, and various director and trading bans.