BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited and BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. – s. 80 of the CFA
Headnote
Section 80 of the Commodity Futures Act (Ontario) -- Relief from the adviser registration requirement of subsection 22(1)(b) of the CFA granted to a sub-adviser headquartered in a foreign jurisdiction in respect of advice regarding trades in commodity futures contracts and commodity futures options, subject to certain terms and conditions -- Relief mirrors exemption available in section 8.26.1 of National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations made under the Securities Act (Ontario).
Applicable Legislative Provisions
Commodity Futures Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.20, as am., ss. 1(1), 22(1)(b), 80.
Securities Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.5, as am., s. 25(3).
National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations, s. 8.26.1.
Ontario Securities Commission Rule 35-502 Non-Resident Advisers, s. 7.11
June 15, 2015
IN THE MATTER OF THE COMMODITY FUTURES ACT, R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER C.20, AS AMENDED (the CFA) AND IN THE MATTER OF BLACKROCK ASSET MANAGEMENT CANADA LIMITED AND BLACKROCK INSTITUTIONAL TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
ORDER (Section 80 of the CFA)
UPON the application (the Application) of BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. (the Sub-Adviser) and BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (the Principal Adviser) to the Ontario Securities Commission (the Commission) for an order, pursuant to section 80 of the CFA, that the Sub-Adviser (and individuals engaging in, or holding themselves out as engaging in, the business of advising others when acting on behalf of the Sub-Adviser in respect of the Sub-Advisory Services (as defined below) (the Representatives)) be exempt, for a specified period of time, from the adviser registration requirements of paragraph 22(1)(b) of the CFA when acting as a sub-adviser to the Principal Adviser for the benefit of the Clients (as defined below) regarding commodity futures contracts and commodity futures options traded on commodity futures exchanges (collectively, the Contracts) and cleared through clearing corporations;
AND UPON considering the Application and the recommendation of staff of the Commission;
AND UPON the Sub-Adviser and the Principal Adviser having represented to the Commission that:
1. The Principal Adviser is a corporation amalgamated under the laws of Ontario, with its head office located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Principal Adviser is registered (a) as a dealer in the category of exempt market dealer, as an adviser in the category of portfolio manager, and as an investment fund manager in each jurisdiction in Canada under the relevant securities legislation of the jurisdiction, and (b) under the CFA as an adviser in the category of commodity trading manager.
2. The Sub-Adviser is a national banking association organized under the laws of the United States and operates as a limited purpose trust company. It is primarily regulated in the United States by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the agency of the U.S. Treasury Department that regulates U.S. national banks. The Sub-Adviser is also subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Labor to the extent that its fiduciary clients are subject to the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended. The head office of the Sub-Adviser is located in the United States.
3. The Sub-Adviser and the Principal Adviser are affiliates; for this purpose, an "affiliate" means any entity that is controlled by BlackRock, Inc. or other ultimate parent company of the Principal Adviser, as the case may be, and "control" and any derivation thereof, means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or significantly influence the management and policies/business or affairs of an entity whether through ownership of voting securities or otherwise.
4. The Sub-Adviser is registered in the United States with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading adviser. The Sub-Adviser is registered in a category of registration, or operates under an exemption from registration, under the commodities futures or other applicable legislation of the United States, that permits it to carry on the activities in that jurisdiction that registration as an adviser under the CFA would permit it to carry on in Ontario. As such, it is authorized and permitted to carry on the Sub-Advisory Services.
5. The Sub-Adviser engages in the business of an adviser in respect of Contracts in the United States.
6. The Sub-Adviser is not registered in any capacity under the CFA or the Securities Act (Ontario) (the OSA). The Sub-Adviser acts in reliance on the exemptions from the requirement to register as an adviser under the OSA available to it pursuant to sections 8.26 and 8.26.1 of National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations (NI 31-103).
7. The Principal Adviser and the Sub-Adviser are not in default of securities legislation, commodity futures legislation or derivatives legislation in any jurisdiction of Canada.
8. The Principal Adviser provides investment advice and/or discretionary portfolio management services in Ontario to (i) investment funds, the securities of which are qualified by prospectus for distribution to the public in Ontario and the other provinces and territories of Canada (the Investment Funds); (ii) pooled funds, the securities of which are sold on a private placement basis in Ontario and certain other provinces and territories of Canada pursuant to prospectus exemptions contained in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus and Registration Exemptions (the Pooled Funds); (iii) clients who have entered into investment management agreements with the Principal Adviser to establish managed accounts (the Managed Account Clients); and (iv) other Investment Funds, Pooled Funds and Managed Account Clients that may be established or retained in the future and in respect of which the Principal Adviser engages the Sub-Adviser to provide portfolio advisory services (the Future Clients) (each of the Investment Funds, Pooled Funds, Managed Account Clients and Future Clients being referred to individually as a Client and collectively as the Clients).
9. Certain of the Clients may, as part of their investment program, invest in Contracts. The Principal Adviser acts as a commodity trading manager in respect of such Clients.
10. In connection with the Principal Adviser acting as an adviser to Clients in respect of the purchase or sale of securities and Contracts, the Principal Adviser, pursuant to a written agreement made between the Principal Adviser and the Sub-Adviser, has retained the Sub-Adviser to act as a sub-adviser to the Principal Adviser in respect of securities and Contracts in which the Sub-Adviser has experience and expertise by exercising discretionary authority on behalf of the Principal Adviser, in respect of all or a portion of the assets of the investment portfolio of the respective Client, including discretionary authority to buy or sell Contracts for the Client (the Sub-Advisory Services), provided that:
(a) in each case, the Contracts must be cleared through an "acceptable clearing corporation" (as defined in National Instrument 81-102 Investment Funds, or any successor thereto (NI 81-102)) or a clearing corporation that clears and settles transactions made on a futures exchange listed in Appendix A of NI 81-102, or any successor thereto; and
(b) such investments are consistent with the investment objectives and strategies of the applicable Client.
11. Paragraph 22(1)(b) of the CFA prohibits a person or company from acting as an adviser unless the person or company is registered as an adviser under the CFA, or is registered as a representative or as partner or an officer of a registered adviser and is acting on behalf of a registered adviser.
12. By providing the Sub-Advisory Services, the Sub-Adviser will be engaging in, or holding itself out as engaging in, the business of advising others in respect of Contracts and, in the absence of being granted the requested relief, would be required to register as an adviser under the CFA.
13. There is presently no rule or regulation under the CFA that provides an exemption from the adviser registration requirement in paragraph 22(1)(b) of the CFA that is similar to the exemption from the adviser registration requirement in subsection 25(3) of the OSA which is provided under section 8.26.1 of NI 31-103.
14. The relationship among the Principal Adviser, the Sub-Adviser and any Client is consistent with the requirements of section 8.26.1 of NI 31-103.
15. The Sub-Adviser will only provide the Sub-Advisory Services as long as the Principal Adviser is, and remains, registered under the CFA as an adviser in the category of commodity trading manager.
16. As would be required under section 8.26.1 of NI 31-103:
(a) the obligations and duties of the Sub-Adviser are set out in a written agreement with the Principal Adviser; and
(b) the Principal Adviser has entered into a written contract with each Client, agreeing to be responsible for any loss that arises out of the failure of the Sub-Adviser:
(i) to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of its office honestly, in good faith and in the best interests of the Principal Adviser and each Client; or
(ii) to exercise the degree of care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in the circumstances (together with (i), the Assumed Obligations).
17. The written agreement between the Principal Adviser and the Sub-Adviser sets out the obligations and duties of each party in connection with the Sub-Advisory Services and permits the Principal Adviser to exercise the degree of supervision and control it is required to exercise over the Sub-Adviser in respect of the Sub-Advisory Services.
18. The Principal Adviser will deliver to the Clients all required reports and statements under applicable securities, commodity futures and derivatives legislation.
19. The prospectus or other offering document, if any, (in either case, the Offering Document) for each Client that is an Investment Fund or a Pooled Fund and for which the Principal Adviser engages one or more Sub-Advisers to provide the Sub-Advisory Services will include the following disclosure (the Required Disclosure):
(a) a statement that the Principal Adviser is responsible for any loss that arises out of the failure of the Sub-Adviser to meet the Assumed Obligations; and
(b) a statement that there may be difficulty in enforcing any legal rights against the Sub-Adviser (or any of its Representatives) because the Sub-Adviser is resident outside of Canada and all or substantially all of its assets are situated outside of Canada.
20. Prior to purchasing any securities of one or more of the Clients that are Investment Funds or Pooled Funds directly from the Principal Adviser, all investors in the Investment Funds or Pooled Funds who are Ontario residents will receive, or have received, the Required Disclosure in writing (which may be in the form of an Offering Document).
21. Each Client that is a Managed Account Client for which the Principal Adviser engages one or more Sub-Advisers to provide the Sub-Advisory Services will receive, or has received, the Required Disclosure in writing prior to the purchasing of any Contracts for such Client.
22. The Principal Adviser and the Sub-Adviser obtained substantially similar relief in a previous order dated March 21, 2014 (the Previous Order), pursuant to which the Sub-Adviser provided Sub-Advisory Services to the Principal Adviser in respect of the Clients.
23. The repeal of section 7.3 of OSC Rule 35-502 Non-Resident Advisers triggered the revocation of the Previous Order.
AND UPON being satisfied that it would not be prejudicial to the public interest for the Commission to grant the exemption requested;
IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to section 80 of the CFA, that the Sub-Adviser and its Representatives are exempt from the adviser registration requirement in paragraph 22(1)(b) of the CFA when acting as sub-adviser to the Principal Adviser in respect of the Sub-Advisory Services provided that at the relevant time that such activities are engaged in:
(a) the Principal Adviser is registered under the CFA as an adviser in the category of commodity trading manager;
(b) the Sub-Adviser's head office or principal place of business is in a foreign jurisdiction;
(c) the Sub-Adviser is registered in a category of registration, or operates under an exemption from registration, under the commodities futures or other applicable legislation of the foreign jurisdiction in which its head office or principal place of business is located, that permits it to carry on the activities in that jurisdiction that registration as an adviser under the CFA would permit it to carry on in Ontario;
(d) the Sub-Adviser engages in the business of an adviser in respect of Contracts in the foreign jurisdiction in which its head office or principal place of business is located;
(e) the obligations and duties of the Sub-Adviser are set out in a written agreement with the Principal Adviser;
(f) the Principal Adviser has entered into a written agreement with the Clients, agreeing to be responsible for any loss that arises out of any failure of the Sub-Adviser to meet the Assumed Obligations;
(g) the Offering Document of each Client that is an Investment Fund or Pooled Fund and for which the Principal Adviser engages the Sub-Adviser to provide the Sub-Advisory Services will include the Required Disclosure;
(h) prior to purchasing any securities of one or more of the Clients that are Investment Funds or Pooled Funds directly from the Principal Adviser, all investors in the Investment Funds or Pooled Funds who are Ontario residents will receive, or have received, the Required Disclosure in writing; and
(i) each Client that is a Managed Account Client for which the Principal Adviser engages the Sub-Adviser to provide the Sub-Advisory Services will receive, or has received, the Required Disclosure in writing prior to the purchasing of any Contracts for such Client; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order will terminate on the earlier of
(a) six months, or such other transition period as provided by operation of law, after the effective date of the repeal of the CFA;
(b) six months, or such other transition period as provided by operation of law, after the coming into force of any amendment to Ontario commodity futures law or Ontario securities law (as defined in the OSA) that affects the ability of the Sub-Adviser to act as a sub-adviser to the Principal Adviser in respect of the Sub-Advisory Services; and
(c) five years after the date of this Order.
DATED at Toronto, Ontario, this 15th day of June, 2015.