Equium Capital Management Inc., 2017 CanLII 69080

October 17, 2017

IN THE MATTER OF

THE SECURITIES LEGISLATION OF

ONTARIO

(the Jurisdiction)

AND

IN THE MATTER OF

THE PROCESS FOR EXEMPTIVE RELIEF APPLICATIONS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS

AND

Equium Capital Management Inc.

(the Filer)

DECISION

Background

The principal regulator in the Jurisdiction has received an application from the Filer on behalf of Equium Global Tactical Allocation Fund (the Proposed ETF Fund), the Proposed ETF Fund being an exchange traded series of a mutual fund, and such other exchange traded series mutual funds as are managed and may be managed by the Filer now or in the future and that are structured in the same manner as the Proposed ETF Fund (the Other Funds and together with the Proposed ETF Fund, the Funds and each individually, a Fund) for a decision under the securities legislation of the Jurisdiction (the Legislation) that grants exemptive relief to the Filer and each Fund as set forth below:

(a) an exemption from section 2.6(a)(i) of National Instrument 81-102 Investment Funds (NI 81-102) to permit each Fund to borrow cash from the custodian of the Fund (the Custodian) and, if required by the Custodian, to provide a security interest over any of its portfolio assets as a temporary measure to fund the portion of any distribution payable to Securityholders (as defined below) that represents, in the aggregate, amounts that are owing to, but not yet been received by, the Fund (the Borrowing Requirement); and

(b) an exemption to permit the Filer and each Fund to treat the ETF Securities and the Mutual Fund Securities (as defined below) as if such securities were separate funds in connection with their compliance with the provisions of Parts 9, 10 and 14 of NI 81-102 (the Sales and Redemptions Requirements),

(collectively, the Exemption Sought).

Under the Process for Exemptive Relief Applications in Multiple Jurisdictions (for a passport application):

(a) the Ontario Securities Commission is the principal regulator for this application; and

(b) the Filer has provided notice that section 4.7(1) of Multilateral Instrument 11-102 Passport System (MI 11-102) is intended to be relied upon in all of the provinces and territories of Canada other than Ontario (together with Ontario, the Jurisdictions).

Interpretation

Terms defined in National Instrument 14-101 Definitions and MI 11-102 have the same meaning if used in this decision, unless otherwise defined.

Affiliate Dealer means a registered dealer that is an affiliate of an Authorized Dealer or Designated Broker and that participates in the re-sale of Creation Units (as defined below) from time to time.

Authorized Dealer means a registered dealer that has entered, or intends to enter, into an agreement with the manager of a Fund authorizing the dealer to subscribe for, purchase and redeem Creation Units from one or more Funds on a continuous basis from time to time.

Basket of Securities means, in relation to the ETF Securities of a Fund, a group of securities or assets representing the constituents of the Fund.

Designated Broker means a registered dealer that has entered, or intends to enter, into an agreement with the Filer on behalf of a Fund to perform certain duties in relation to the ETF Securities of the Fund, including the posting of a liquid two-way market for the trading of the Fund’s ETF Securities on the TSX or another Marketplace.

ETF Securities means securities of an exchange-traded series of a Fund that are listed or will be listed on the TSX or another Marketplace and that will be distributed pursuant to a simplified prospectus prepared in accordance with NI 81-101 and Form 81-101F1.

Form 81-101F1 means Form 81-101F1 Contents of Simplified Prospectus.

Marketplace means a “marketplace” as defined in National Instrument 21-101 Marketplace Operations that is located in Canada.

Mutual Fund Securities means securities of a non-exchange-traded series of a Fund that are or will be distributed pursuant to a simplified prospectus prepared in accordance with NI 81-101 and Form 81-101F1.

NI 81-101 means National Instrument 81-101 Mutual Fund Prospectus Disclosure.

Other Dealer means a registered dealer that acts as authorized dealer or designated broker to exchange-traded funds that are not managed by the Filer and that has received relief under a Prospectus Delivery Decision.

Prescribed Number of ETF Securities means, in relation to a Fund, the number of ETF Securities of the Fund determined by the Filer from time to time for the purpose of subscription orders, exchanges, redemptions or for other purposes.

Prospectus Delivery Requirement means the requirement that a dealer, not acting as agent of the purchaser, who receives an order or subscription for a security offered in a distribution to which the prospectus requirement of the Legislation applies, send or deliver to the purchaser or its agent, unless the dealer has previously done so, the latest prospectus and any amendment either before entering into an agreement of purchase and sale resulting from the order or subscription, or not later than midnight on the second business day after entering into that agreement.

Securityholders means beneficial or registered holders of ETF Securities or Mutual Fund Securities of a Fund, as applicable.

TSX means the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Representations

This decision is based on the following facts represented by the Filer:

1. The Filer is a corporation incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

2. The head office of the Filer is located at 36 Toronto Street, Suite 1170, Toronto, Ontario M5C 2C5.

3. The Filer is registered as an investment fund manager in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador and as a portfolio manager and an exempt market dealer in Ontario.

4. The Filer is, or will be, the investment fund manager of each Fund.

5. The Filer is not in default of securities legislation in any of the Jurisdictions.

6. The Proposed ETF Fund is established under the laws of Ontario as an investment fund that is an open-ended mutual fund trust. The Funds will be either trusts or corporations or classes thereof governed by the laws of the Jurisdiction. Each Fund is, or will be, a reporting issuer in the Jurisdictions in which its securities are distributed. Each Fund offers or will offer ETF Securities and Mutual Fund Securities.

7. Subject to any exemptions therefrom that have been, or may be, granted by the applicable securities regulatory authorities, each Fund is, or will be, subject to NI 81-102 and Securityholders will have the right to vote at a meeting of Securityholders in respect of matters prescribed by NI 81-102.

8. The Proposed ETF Fund currently offers Series A and Series F units. These Mutual Fund Securities are currently distributed under a simplified prospectus dated March 23, 2017.

9. On September 1, 2017, a preliminary and pro forma prospectus in respect of the Mutual Fund Securities and the ETF Securities of the Proposed ETF Fund was filed with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the Jurisdictions.

10. The Filer will apply to list any ETF Securities of the Funds on the TSX or another Marketplace. The Filer will not file a final prospectus for any of the Funds in respect of the ETF Securities until the TSX or other applicable Marketplace has conditionally approved the listing of the ETF Securities.

11. Mutual Fund Securities may be subscribed for or purchased directly from a Fund through qualified financial advisors or brokers.

12. ETF Securities will be distributed on a continuous basis in one or more of the Jurisdictions under a prospectus. ETF Securities may generally only be subscribed for or purchased directly from the Funds (Creation Units) by Authorized Dealers or Designated Brokers. Generally, subscriptions or purchases may only be placed for a Prescribed Number of ETF Securities (or a multiple thereof) on any day when there is a trading session on the TSX or other Marketplace. Authorized Dealers or Designated Brokers subscribe for Creation Units for the purpose of facilitating investor purchases of ETF Securities on the TSX or another Marketplace.

13. In addition to subscribing for and re-selling Creation Units, Authorized Dealers, Designated Brokers and Affiliate Dealers will also generally be engaged in purchasing and selling ETF Securities of the same class or series as the Creation Units in the secondary market. Other Dealers may also be engaged in purchasing and selling ETF Securities of the same class or series as the Creation Units in the secondary market despite not being an Authorized Dealer, Designated Broker or Affiliate Dealer.

14. Each Designated Broker or Authorized Dealer that subscribes for Creation Units must deliver, in respect of each Prescribed Number of ETF Securities to be issued, a Basket of Securities and/or cash in an amount sufficient so that the value of the Basket of Securities and/or cash delivered is equal to the net asset value of the ETF Securities subscribed for next determined following the receipt of the subscription order. In the discretion of the Filer, the Funds may also accept subscriptions for Creation Units in cash only, in securities other than Baskets of Securities and/or in a combination of cash and securities other than Baskets of Securities, in an amount equal to the net asset value of the ETF Securities subscribed for next determined following the receipt of the subscription order.

15. The Designated Brokers and Authorized Dealers will not receive any fees or commissions in connection with the issuance of Creation Units to them. On the issuance of Creation Units, the Filer or the Fund may, in the Filer’s discretion, charge a fee to a Designated Broker or an Authorized Dealer to offset the expenses incurred in issuing the Creation Units.

16. Each Fund will appoint, at any given time, a Designated Broker to perform certain other functions, which include standing in the market with a bid and ask price for ETF Securities for the purpose of maintaining liquidity for the ETF Securities.

17. Except for Authorized Dealer and Designated Broker subscriptions for Creation Units, as described above, and other distributions that are exempt from the Prospectus Delivery Requirement under the Legislation, ETF Securities generally will not be able to be purchased directly from a Fund. Investors are generally expected to purchase and sell ETF Securities, directly or indirectly, through dealers executing trades through the facilities of the TSX or another Marketplace. ETF Securities may also be issued directly to Securityholders upon a reinvestment of distributions of income or capital gains.

18. Securityholders that are not Designated Brokers or Authorized Dealers that wish to dispose of their ETF Securities may generally do so by selling their ETF Securities on the TSX or other Marketplace, through a registered dealer, subject only to customary brokerage commissions. A Securityholder that holds a Prescribed Number of ETF Securities or multiple thereof may exchange such ETF Securities for Baskets of Securities and/or cash in the discretion of the Filer. Securityholders may also redeem ETF Securities for cash at a redemption price equal to 95% of the closing price of the ETF Securities on the TSX or other Marketplace on the date of redemption, subject to a maximum redemption price of the applicable net asset value per ETF Security.

Borrowing Requirement

19. Section 2.6(a)(i) of NI 81-102 prevents a mutual fund from borrowing cash or providing a security interest over its portfolio assets unless the transaction is a temporary measure to accommodate redemption requests or to settle portfolio transactions and does not exceed five percent of the net assets of the mutual fund. As a result, a Fund is not permitted under section 2.6(a)(i) to borrow from the Custodian to fund distributions under the Distribution Policy.

20. Each Fund will make distributions on a monthly or quarterly basis or at such frequency as the Filer may, in its discretion, determine appropriate, may make additional distributions and, in each taxation year, will distribute sufficient net income and net realized capital gains so that it will not be liable to pay income tax under Part I of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (collectively, the Distribution Policy).

21. Amounts included in the calculation of net income and net realized capital gains of a Fund for a taxation year that must be distributed in accordance with the Distribution Policy sometimes include amounts that are owing to but have not actually been received by the Fund from the issuers of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio (Issuers).

22. While it is possible for a Fund to maintain a portion of its assets in cash or to dispose of securities in order to obtain any cash necessary to make a distribution in accordance with the Distribution Policy, maintaining such a cash position or making such a disposition (which would generally be followed, when the cash is actually received from the Issuers, by an acquisition of the same securities) impacts the Fund’s performance. Maintaining assets in cash or disposing of securities means that a portion of the net asset value of the Fund is not invested in accordance with its investment objective.

23. The Filer is of the view that it is in the interests of a Fund to have the ability to borrow cash from the Custodian and, if required by the Custodian, to provide a security interest over its portfolio assets as a temporary measure to fund the portion of any distribution payable to Securityholders that represents, in the aggregate, amounts that are owing to, but have not yet been received by, the Fund from the Issuers. While such borrowing will have a cost, the Filer expects that such costs will be less than the reduction in the Fund’s performance if the Fund had to hold cash instead of securities in order to fund the distribution.

Sales and Redemptions Requirements

24. Parts 9, 10 and 14 of NI 81-102 do not contemplate both Mutual Fund Securities and ETF Securities being offered in a single fund structure. Accordingly, without the Exemption Sought, the Filer and the Funds would not be able to technically comply with those parts of the Instrument.

25. The Exemption Sought will permit the Filer and the Funds to treat the ETF Securities and the Mutual Fund Securities as if such securities were separate funds in connection with their compliance with Parts 9, 10 and 14 of NI 81-102. The Exemption Sought will enable each of the ETF Securities and Mutual Fund Securities to comply with Parts 9, 10 and 14 of NI 81-102 as appropriate for the type of security being offered.

Decision

The principal regulator is satisfied that the decision meets the test set out in the Legislation for the principal regulator to make the decision.

1. The decision of the principal regulator under the Legislation is that the Exemption Sought from the Borrowing Requirement is granted, provided that the Filer will be in compliance with the following conditions:

a. the borrowing by the Fund in respect of a distribution does not exceed the portion of the distribution that represents, in the aggregate, amounts that are payable to the Fund but have not been received by the Fund from the Issuers and, in any event, does not exceed five percent of the net assets of the Fund;

b. the borrowing is not for a period longer than 45 days;

c. any security interest in respect of the borrowing is consistent with industry practice for the type of borrowing and is only in respect of amounts owing as a result of the borrowing;

d. the Fund does not make any distribution to Securityholders where the distribution would impair the Fund’s ability to repay any borrowing to fund distributions; and

e. the final prospectus of the Fund discloses the potential borrowing, the purpose of the borrowing and the risks associated with the borrowing.

2. The decision of the principal regulator under the Legislation is that the Exemption Sought from the Sales and Redemptions Requirements is granted, provided that the Filer will be in compliance with the following conditions:

a. with respect to its Mutual Fund Securities, each Fund complies with the provisions of Parts 9, 10 and 14 of NI 81-102 that apply to mutual funds that are not exchange-traded mutual funds; and

b. with respect to its ETF Securities, each Fund complies with the provisions of Parts 9 and 10 of NI 81-102 that apply to exchange-traded mutual funds.

“Darren McKall”

Darren McKall, Manager,

Investment Funds & Structured Products Branch

Ontario Securities Commission