Amendment to Policy Statement to Regulation 81-106 respecting Investment Fund Continuous Disclosure

AMENDMENTS TO POLICY STATEMENT TO REGULATION 81-106 RESPECTING INVESTMENT FUND CONTINUOUS DISCLOSURE

1. Section 4.5 of Policy Statement to Regulation 81-106 respecting Investment Fund
   Continuous Disclosure is repealed.
2. Section 6.1 of the Policy Statement is amended by replacing, in paragraph (4), the words
   “to the fund’s website if it has one” with the words “on the fund’s designated website”.
3. Section 9.1 of the Policy Statement is amended by inserting, after the words “make the
   results of that calculation available”, the words “on its designated website or”.
4. The Policy Statement is amended by adding, after section 10.1, the following part:
   “PART 11 INVESTMENT FUND WEBSITE
   “11.1. Requirement to designate a website
   (1) The purpose of Part 16.1 is to improve investor access to investment fund regulatory disclosure and other information that characterizes a fund. Investment funds’ websites typically include regulatory disclosure (e.g., a prospectus, a fund facts document, an ETF facts document, continuous disclosure documents), as well as other information on a fund (e.g. a fund profile) and its management (e.g., the names of its investment fund manager, portfolio manager, custodian, trustee). Section 16.1.2 of the Regulation does not prescribe the disclosure that must be posted on an investment fund’s designated website. The regulatory disclosure that must be posted on an investment fund’s designated website is included in other provisions of the securities legislation applicable to reporting investment funds. (2) The CSA would generally consider that an investment fund’s designated website includes a set of webpages on the internet containing links to each other and made available online by the investment fund, its investment fund manager or a person designated by its investment fund manager. In the CSA’s view, an investment fund’s designated website must be open-access to everybody and free of charge. The designated website may contain a webpage that is accessible only by the fund’s securityholders (for example, with an access code and a password) for the sole purpose of posting confidential or non-public information that is not required by securities legislation. (3) We note that an investment fund’s regulatory disclosure and other information may be disseminated on a website that is established and maintained by the investment fund’s manager or a person designated by the fund’s manager, which may include a third-party service provider or an affiliate or an associate of the investment fund’s manager. The CSA does not expect an investment fund to create a stand-alone website to fulfil its obligations to post regulatory disclosure on a designated website. In order to improve flexibility and access to disclosure, investment funds may identify as a designated website, the website of another investment fund managed by the same investment fund manager, or of an affiliate or an associate of the investment fund’s manager. In any case, the investment fund’s designated website is expected to clearly identify and differentiate between the information applicable to each investment fund. The designated website’s user interface should make it clear to investors where information relating to their particular investment can be located. (4) The Regulation does not specify how an investment fund should structure its designated website. Investment funds may choose to post all regulatory disclosure and other information pertaining to one investment fund on a single webpage dedicated to this fund or instead aggregate some regulatory disclosure and other key information for several investment funds that are part of the same investment fund family into a single webpage. The CSA
   expect that investment funds and their investment fund managers will adopt a consistent and harmonized structure within an investment fund’s designated website in order to avoid any confusion amongst users.

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(5) The investment fund’s designated website should be designed in a manner that allows an individual investor with a reasonable level of technological skill and knowledge to easily do any of the following:
(a) access, read and search the information and the documents posted on the website; (b) download and print the documents. (6) Maintenance and supervision of an investment fund’s designated website and its content should be accounted for in the compliance systems of the investment fund and its manager. The establishment and maintenance of a compliance system by investment fund managers is required under section 11.1 of Regulation 31-103 respecting Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations(chapter V-1.1, r. 43). We also expect investment funds and their managers to take steps to protect themselves against cyber threats. In this respect, they should review and consult guidance issued by securities regulators and self-regulatory organizations. (7) Investment funds and their investment fund managers should ensure the designated website accurately discloses regulatory disclosure and other information. If inaccurate disclosure regarding a fund is found on the designated website, it should be removed or updated as soon as possible. A website that contains information that is out-of-date could in certain cases be considered inaccurate and misleading. The Regulation does not specify the length of time that regulatory disclosure and other information must remain on an investment fund’s designated website. The CSA are of the view that regulatory disclosure and other information should stay on a designated website for a reasonable length of time, and at least until replaced with more current information or documents. Some disclosure should be updated more frequently depending on its nature or its importance to current and potential investors (e.g. net asset values per security and past performance). We generally encourage investment funds and their managers to archive documents or information that may retain historical or other value to investors on the designated website. However, documents or information that mislead investors should be removed. (8) An investment fund and its manager may create hyperlinks leading to third-party websites. In such cases, a warning informing individuals that they are about to leave the investment fund’s designated website may be appropriate. (9) Section 16.1.2, sets out that an investment fund designates its website by identifying it in a specified location of the investment fund’s prospectus, or its annual information form if it is required to file one under section 9.2. Where a prospectus or annual information form is prepared in respect of more than one investment fund, the designated websites of each investment fund, where they are different, should be disclosed. When the fund designates its website under section 16.1.2, that website becomes the fund’s designated website, including for the purpose of all requirements where a fund is required to disclose a designated website. For example, as required in Item 1 of Part I of Form 41-101F4 Information Required in an ETF Facts Document and in
Item 1 of Part I of Form 81-101F3 Contents of Fund Facts Document, the website noted in the ETF facts document or fund facts document must reference the same website. If the address of the designated website is modified, it would be acceptable for the website located at the previous address to redirect visitors to the new address of the designated website, with a corresponding update to the prospectus or annual information form, and each other document that is required to refer to the designated website, occurring at the time of the next renewal or filing. (10) Investment fund managers should consider the guidance concerning outsourcing found in sections 7.3 and Part 11 of the Policy Statement to Regulation 31-103 respecting Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations, including that which indicates that the investment fund manager is responsible for any functions delegated or outsourced and must supervise the service provider.”.