BofAML Securities, Inc.

U.S. regulated firm exempted from dealer registration under paragraph 25(1) of the Act for provision of prime brokerage services – relief limited to trades in Canadian securities for institutional permitted clients – relief is subject to sunset clause.

Applicable Legislative Provisions

Statutes Cited

Securities Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.5, as am., ss. 25(1), 74(1).

Instruments Cited

Multilateral Instrument 11-102 Passport System, s. 4.7.
National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations, s. 8.5, 8.18, 8.21.
National Instrument 81-102 Investment Funds.

September 18, 2018

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

IN THE MATTER OF
BofAML SECURITIES, INC.
(the Filer)

DECISION

Background

The principal regulator in the Jurisdiction has received an application from the Filer (the Application) for a decision under the securities legislation of the Jurisdiction (the Legislation) exempting the Filer from dealer registration under section 25(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario) (the Act) in respect of Prime Services (as defined below) relating to securities of Canadian issuers and that are provided in Canada to Institutional Permitted Clients (as defined below) (the Exemption Sought).

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

(a)           the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) 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 each of the other provinces and territories of Canada in which the Filer relies on the exemption found in section 8.18 [International dealer] of National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations (NI 31-103) other than the province of Alberta (the Passport Jurisdictions and together with the Jurisdiction, 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.

For the purposes of this decision, the following term has the following meaning:

“Institutional Permitted Client” shall mean a “permitted client” as defined in section 1.1 of NI 31-103, except for: (a) an individual, (b) a person or company acting on behalf of a managed account of an individual, (c) a person or company referred to in paragraph (p) of that definition unless that person or company qualifies as an Institutional Permitted Client under another paragraph of that definition, or (d) a person or company referred to in paragraph (q) of that definition unless that person or company has net assets of at least $100 million as shown on its most recently prepared financial statements or qualifies as an Institutional Permitted Client under another paragraph of that definition.

Representations

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

1.             The Filer is a corporation formed under the laws of the State of Delaware. The Filer’s head offices are located at One Bryant Park, New York, New York, 10036, United States of America (U.S.). The Filer is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, held through its direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries NB Holdings Corporation, BAC North America Holding Company, and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, respectively.

2.             The Filer is registered as a broker-dealer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a member of the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a registered futures commission merchant (FCM) with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and a member of the U.S. National Futures Association (NFA).

3.             The Filer is in the process of establishing memberships with a number of major U.S. securities and equity options exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ Stock Market, Chicago Board Options Exchange, Miami International Securities Exchange, International Securities Exchange and the BOX Options Exchange. The Filer is also in the process of establishing memberships with many major U.S. commodity exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, New York Mercantile Exchange, Commodity Exchange, Inc., CBOE Futures Exchange, Eris Exchange, ICE Futures U.S. and Nodal Exchange, and trades through affiliated or unaffiliated member firms on other exchanges, including exchanges in Canada.

4.             The Filer will be a full service U.S. broker-dealer that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments, insurance companies and investment firms. Services provided to clients by the Filer will include securities brokerage, clearance and settlement services and related financing and record keeping services. The Filer will also act as a dealer and provide underwriting, investment banking, corporate advisory and other related services traditionally provided by a full service broker-dealer, including execution and clearing services. As a full service broker-dealer, the Filer will engage in principal trading in furtherance of its market-making, risk-mitigating hedging and underwriting activities.

5.             “Prime Services” provided by the Filer principally consists of the following: (a) settlement, clearing and custody of trades; (b) financing of long inventory; (c) securities borrowing and/or lending pursuant to a securities lending agreement or delivering securities on behalf of a client pursuant to a margin agreement, in each case, to facilitate client short sales; and (d) reporting of positions, margin and other balances and activity. For greater clarity, Prime Services do not include execution of trades in securities.

6.             The Filer wishes to provide Prime Services in the Jurisdictions to Institutional Permitted Clients (the Prime Services Clients).

7.             In the case of a Prime Services Client that is an investment fund subject to Part 6 of National Instrument 81-102 Investment Funds (NI 81-102), the custodianship requirements in Part 6 of NI 81-102 would only permit the Filer to provide the Prime Services to the investment fund as a sub-custodian of the investment fund in respect of portfolio assets held outside Canada, and the Filer provides prime services to a fund in compliance with the securities law applicable to the fund, including Part 6 of NI 81-102 and the custody requirements set out in NI 31-103.

8.             Prime Services Clients seek Prime Services from the Filer in order to separate the execution of a trade from the clearing, settlement, custody and financing of a trade. This allows the Prime Services Client to use many executing brokers, without maintaining an active, ongoing custody account with each executing broker. It also allows the Prime Services Client to consolidate settlement, clearing, custody and financing of securities in an account with the Filer.

9.             The Filer’s Prime Services Clients directly select their executing brokers. The Filer does not require their Prime Services Clients to use specific executing brokers through which Prime Services Clients must execute trades. Prime Services Clients send trade orders to the executing broker who carries out the trade. The executing broker will be an appropriately registered dealer or a person or company relying on an exemption from dealer registration that permits such executing broker to execute the trade for Prime Services Clients.

10.          The Filer provides the Prime Services after the execution of the trade, but any commitment to provide financing or to lend or borrow securities in relation to a trade may be made prior to the execution of the trade. The executing broker will communicate the trade details to a Prime Services Client and the Filer or the Filer’s clearing agent, as applicable. A Prime Services Client will also communicate the trade details to the Filer. For trades executed on a Canadian marketplace, the Filer will typically need to clear and settle the trades through a participant of the Canadian depository, clearing and settlement hub, CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc.

11.          The Filer exchanges money or securities and holds the money or securities in an account for each Prime Services Client. If the Filer is clearing and settling the trade through a clearing agent, the Filer’s clearing agent exchanges money or securities and holds the money or securities in an omnibus account for the Filer, which in turn maintains a record of the position held for the Prime Services Client on its books and records.

12.          On or following settlement, the Filer provides the other Prime Services as set out in paragraph 5.

13.          The Filer enters into written agreements with all of its Prime Services Clients for the provision of Prime Services.

14.          On September 2, 2011, in CSA Staff Notice 31-327 Broker-Dealer Registration in the Exempt Market Dealer Category, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) stated that they had concerns with firms applying for registration in and with firms registered in the category of exempt market dealer (EMD) who were carrying on brokerage activities, including trading listed securities. In light of these regulatory concerns, firms applying for registration were instead registered in the restricted dealer category with terms and conditions. The interim restricted dealer registrations were time limited and were intended to allow applicants to engage in limited activities while the CSA reviewed the activities of firms registered in the category of EMD and restricted dealer.

15.          On February 7, 2013, in CSA Staff Notice 31-333 Follow-up to Broker-Dealer Registration in the Exempt Market Dealer Category, the CSA stated that they would be publishing amendments to NI 31-103 that would prohibit exempt market dealers from trading in a security if the security is listed, quoted or traded on a marketplace and if the trade in the security does not require reliance on a further exemption from the prospectus requirement (the Rule Amendments). The CSA stated that restricted dealers conducting brokerage activities in accordance with the terms and conditions of their registration would have their registration and any related exemptive relief extended to the date the Rule Amendments came into effect.

16.          The Rule Amendments came into effect on July 11, 2015. Since the implementation of the Rule Amendments, only investment dealers that are dealer members of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) or firms relying on an applicable exemption from the dealer registration requirement are permitted to engage in trading in a security if the security is listed, quoted or traded on a marketplace and if the trade in the security does not require reliance on a further exemption from the prospectus requirement in the Jurisdictions.

17.          The Filer is relying or will rely on the “international dealer exemption” under section 8.18 [International dealer] of NI 31-103 in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Québec and Saskatchewan.

18.          The Filer is not registered under NI 31-103, is in the business of trading in securities, and in the absence of the Exemption Sought, would not be able to provide the full range of Prime Services in the Jurisdictions in respect of securities of Canadian issuers without registration, except as permitted under section 8.5 [Trades through or to a registered dealer], under the exemptions found in paragraphs (a), (b) and (f) of subsection 8.18(2) [International dealer], and under section 8.21 [Specified debt] of NI 31-103.

19.          The Filer is subject to regulatory capital requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 1934 Act), specifically SEC Rule 15c3-1 Net Capital Requirements for Brokers or Dealers (SEC Rule 15c3-1) and SEC Rule 17a-5 Reports to be Made by Certain Brokers and Dealers (SEC Rule 17a-5). The Filer has been approved by the SEC pursuant to SEC Rule 15c3-1 to use the alternative method of computing net capital contained in Appendix E to SEC Rule 15c3-1, and therefore files such supplemental and alternative reports as may be prescribed by the SEC. The Alternative Net Capital (ANC) method provides large broker-dealers meeting specified criteria, such as the Filer, with an alternative to use mathematical models such as the value at risk model to calculate capital requirements for market and derivatives related credit risk. The Filer, which uses the ANC method, must document and implement a comprehensive internal risk management system which addresses market, credit, liquidity, legal and operational risk at the firm.

20.          SEC Rule 15c3-1 requires that the Filer account for any guarantee of debt of a third party in calculating its excess net capital when a loss is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Accordingly, the Filer will, in the event that it provides a guarantee of any debt of a third party, take a deduction from net capital when both of the preceding conditions exist. The Filer does not guarantee the debt of any third party.

21.          SEC Rule 15c3-1 is designed to provide protections that are substantially similar to the protections provided by the capital formula requirements and specifically risk adjusted capital to which dealer members of IIROC are subject, and the Filer is in compliance with SEC Rule 15c3-1 and is in compliance in all material respects with SEC Rule 17a-5. If the Filer’s net capital declines below the minimum amount required, the Filer is required to notify the SEC and FINRA pursuant to SEC Rule 17a-11 Notification Provisions for Brokers and Dealers (SEC Rule 17a-11). The SEC and FINRA have the responsibility to provide oversight over the Filer’s compliance with SEC Rule 15c3-1 and SEC Rule 17a-5.

22.          The Filer is required to prepare and file a financial report, which includes Form X-17a-5 (the FOCUS Report) which is the financial and operational report containing a net capital calculation, and a compliance report annually with the SEC and FINRA pursuant to SEC Rule 17a-5(d). The FOCUS Report provides a more comprehensive description of the business activities of the Filer, and more accurately reflects those activities including client lending activity, than would be provided by Form 31-103F1 Calculation of Excess Working Capital (Form 31-103F1). The net capital requirements computed using methods prescribed by SEC Rule 15c3-1 are based on all assets and liabilities on the books and records of a broker-dealer whereas Form 31-103F1 is a calculation of excess working capital, which is a computation based primarily on the current assets and current liabilities on the books and records of the dealer. The Filer is up-to-date in its submissions of annual reports under SEC Rule 17a-5(d), including the FOCUS Report.

23.          The Filer is subject to regulations of the Board of Governors of the U.S.A. Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the SEC, and FINRA regarding the lending of money, extension of credit and provision of margin to clients (the U.S. Margin Regulations) that provide protections that are substantially similar to the protections provided by the requirements regarding the lending of money, extension of credit and provision of margin to clients to which dealer members of IIROC are subject. In particular, the Filer is subject to the margin requirements imposed by the FRB, including Regulation T, and under applicable SEC rules and under FINRA Rule 4210. The Filer is in compliance in all material respects with applicable U.S. Margin Regulations.

24.          The Filer holds customer assets in accordance with Rule 15c3-3 of the 1934 Act, as amended (SEC Rule 15c3-3). SEC Rule 15c3-3 requires the Filer to segregate and keep segregated all “fully-paid securities” and “excess margin securities” (as such terms are defined in SEC Rule 15c3-3) of its customers from its proprietary assets. In addition to the segregation of customers’ securities, SEC Rule 15c3-3 requires the Filer to deposit an amount of cash or qualified government securities determined in accordance with a reserve formula set forth in SEC Rule 15c3-3 in an account entitled “Special Reserve Account for the Exclusive Benefit of Customers” of such Filer at separate banks and/or custodians. The combination of segregated securities and cash reserve are designed to ensure that the Filer has sufficient assets to cover all net equity claims of its customers and provide protections that are substantially similar to the protections provided by the requirements dealer members of IIROC are subject. If the Filer fails to make an appropriate deposit, the Filer is required to notify the SEC and FINRA pursuant to SEC Rule 15c3-3(i). The Filer is in material compliance with the possession and control requirements of SEC Rule 15c3-3.

25.          The Filer is a member of the Securities Investors Protection Corporation (SIPC) and, subject to the eligibility criteria of SIPC, Prime Services Clients’ assets held by the Filer are insured by SIPC against loss due to insolvency.

26.          The Filer is in compliance in all material respects with U.S. securities laws. The Filer is not in default of securities legislation in any jurisdiction in Canada.

27.          The Filer submits that the Exemption Sought would not be prejudicial to the public interest because:

(a)           the Filer is regulated as a broker-dealer under the securities legislation of the U.S,. and is subject to the requirements listed in paragraphs 19 to 26,

(b)           the availability of and access to Prime Services is important to Canadian institutional investors who are active participants in the international marketplace,

(c)           the Filer will provide Prime Services in the Jurisdictions only to Institutional Permitted Clients,

(d)           the OSC has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the SEC regarding mutual assistance in the supervision and oversight of regulated entities that operate on a cross-border basis in the U.S. and Canada, and

(e)           the OSC has entered into a memorandum of understanding with FINRA to provide a formal basis for the exchange of regulatory information and investigative assistance.

28.          At the request of the Alberta Securities Commission, the Filer will not rely on subsection 4.7(1) of MI 11-102 to passport this decision into Alberta.

29.          The Filer is a “market participant” as defined under subsection 1(1) of the Act. As a market participant, among other requirements, the Filer is required to comply with the record keeping and provision of information provisions under section 19 of the Act, which include the requirement to keep such books, records and other documents as are necessary for the proper recording of business transactions and financial affairs and the transactions executed on behalf of others, and to deliver such records to the OSC if required.

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.

The decision of the principal regulator under the Legislation is that the Exemption Sought is granted so long as the Filer:

(a)           has its head office or principal place of business in the U.S.;

(b)           is registered as a broker-dealer under the securities legislation of the U.S., which permits the Filer to provide the Prime Services in the U.S.;

(c)           is a member of FINRA;

(d)           is a member of SIPC;

(e)           is subject to requirements over regulatory capital, lending of money, extension of credit, provision of margin, financial reporting to the SEC and FINRA, and segregation and custody of assets which provide protections that are substantially similar to the protections provided by the rules to which dealer members of IIROC are subject;

(f)            limits its provision of Prime Services in the Jurisdictions in respect of securities of Canadian issuers to Institutional Permitted Clients;

(g)           does not execute trades in securities of Canadian issuers with or for Prime Services Clients, except as permitted under applicable Canadian securities laws;

(h)           does not require its Prime Services Clients to use specific executing brokers through which Prime Services Clients must execute trades;

(i)            notifies the OSC of any regulatory action initiated after the date of this decision in respect of the Filer, or any predecessors or specified affiliates of the Filer, by completing and filing with the OSC Appendix “A” hereto within ten days of the commencement of any such action; provided that the Filer may also satisfy this condition by filing with the OSC within ten days of the date of this decision, a notice making reference to and incorporating by reference the disclosure made by the Filer pursuant to U.S. federal securities laws that is identified in the FINRA BrokerCheck system, and any updates to such disclosure that may be made from time to time, and by providing notification, in a manner reasonably acceptable to the Director, of any filing of a Form BD “Regulatory Action Disclosure Reporting Page”;

(j)            submits the financial report and compliance report as described in SEC Rule 17a-5(d) to the OSC on an annual basis, at the same time such reports are filed with the SEC and FINRA;

(k)           submits audited financial statements to the OSC on an annual basis, within 90 days of the Filer’s financial year end;

(l)            submits to the OSC immediately a copy of any notice filed under SEC Rule 17a-11 or under SEC Rule 15c3-3(i) with the SEC and FINRA;

(m)          complies with the filing and fee payment requirements applicable to a registrant under OSC Rule 13-502 Fees;

(n)           files in an electronic and searchable format with the OSC such reports as to any or all of its trading activities in Canada as the OSC may, upon notice, require from time to time; and

(o)           pays the increased compliance and case assessment costs of the principal regulator due to the Filer’s location outside Ontario, including, as required, the reasonable cost of hiring a third party to perform a compliance review on behalf of the principal regulator.

This decision shall expire five years after the date hereof.

This decision may be amended by the OSC from time to time upon prior written notice to the Filer.

“Grant Vingoe”
Vice-Chair
Ontario Securities Commission

“Tim Moseley”
Vice-Chair
Ontario Securities Commission

APPENDIX “A”

NOTICE OF REGULATORY ACTION

1.             Has the firm, or any predecessors or specified affiliates¹ of the firm entered into a settlement agreement with any financial services regulator, securities or derivatives exchange, SRO or similar agreement with any financial services regulator, securities or derivatives exchange, SRO or similar organization?

Yes _____ No _____

If yes, provide the following information for each settlement agreement:

2.             Has any financial services regulator, securities or derivatives exchange, SRO or similar organization:

If yes, provide the following information for each action:

3.             Is the firm aware of any ongoing investigation of which the firm or any of its specified affiliates is the subject?

Yes _____ No _____

If yes, provide the following information for each investigation:

Witness

The witness must be a lawyer, notary public or commissioner of oaths.

This form is to be submitted through the Ontario Securities Commission’s Electronic Filing Portal:

https://www.osc.gov.on.ca/filings