Amendments to Policy Statement to Regulation 44-102 respecting Shelf Distributions

AMENDMENTS TO POLICY STATEMENT TO REGULATION 44-102 RESPECTING SHELF DISTRIBUTIONS

1. Section 2.6 of Policy Statement to Regulation 44-102 respecting Shelf Distributions is amended by inserting, in paragraph (3) and after “Regulation 44-102 provides that”, “, subject to Part 6A,”.
2. Section 2.9 of the Policy Statement is replaced by the following: “2.9. Delivery Obligations – Purchaser’s or Subscriber’s Rights The securities regulatory authorities are of the view that statutory rights of rescission or withdrawal commence from the time of the purchaser’s receipt of all relevant shelf prospectus supplements. It is only at this time that the entire prospectus has been delivered. Subsections 6A.4(2), 6A.4(3), 6A.4(4), 6A.6(4) and 6A.6(5) of the Regulation set out the period of time within which a purchaser’s or subscriber’s right to withdraw or rescind from, revoke or cancel an agreement to purchase a security or a contract to purchase or a subscription for a security must be exercised when access to a prospectus and any amendment is provided. For the purposes of section 6A.4 and subsections 6A.6(4) and (5) of the Regulation, securities legislation in a jurisdiction sets out any provisions for who may exercise the right to provide a written notice, whether the notice is required and if so by when and to whom it must be provided, when receipt of the notice is deemed to be provided and who has the onus of proving time to provide a notice has expired. If a purchaser or subscriber requests an electronic or paper copy of the shelf prospectus supplement, the corresponding base shelf prospectus or any amendment from the issuer or dealer as permitted by subsections 6A.5(4) or 6A.6(3) of the Regulation, the request will not affect the calculation of the period of time during which the purchaser or subscriber may exercise these rights.”.
3. The Policy Statement is amended by inserting the following after section 2.9: “2.10. Revocation of Purchase – Alberta In Alberta, section 130 of the Securities Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. S-4) provides that an agreement to purchase securities is not binding on the purchaser if the dealer receives notice in writing that the purchaser does not intend to be bound by the agreement to purchase within the timelines set out in the regulations. If access to the shelf prospectus supplement, the corresponding base shelf prospectus or any amendment to the documents is provided in accordance with subsection 6A.5(2) of the Regulation, the applicable timeline is that set forth in section 6A.4(3) of the Regulation. Otherwise, the applicable timeline is that set forth in Alberta Securities Commission Rule 46-503 Revocation of Purchase. “PART 2A ACCESS TO SHELF PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENTS AND BASE SHELF PROSPECTUSES “2A.1. Delivery Obligation Securities legislation generally requires a dealer who receives an order to purchase a security offered in a distribution to deliver or send to the purchaser a copy of the prospectus and any amendment. Securities legislation generally requires a dealer who solicits expressions of interest from a prospective purchaser to deliver or send to the prospective purchaser a copy of the preliminary prospectus and any amendment.

2 Part 6A of the Regulation provides alternative procedures whereby a dealer may provide access to a preliminary prospectus, final prospectus and any amendment. In British Columbia, Québec and New Brunswick, the alternative procedures are structured as an exemption from the delivery obligation, while in all other jurisdictions the alternative is structured as procedures to provide access to the preliminary prospectus, final prospectus and any amendment. The access procedures and the conditions of the exemption are substantially equivalent and both result in providing access to a preliminary prospectus, final prospectus and any amendment. In jurisdictions except British Columbia, Alberta, Québec and New Brunswick, under subsection 6A.2(2) of the Regulation, a dealer may satisfy its delivery obligation under securities legislation if access to the shelf prospectus supplement, the corresponding base shelf prospectus, the preliminary base shelf prospectus and any amendment to the documents is provided in accordance with subsection 6A.5(2) or (3) of the Regulation. In Alberta, under section 6A.3 of the Regulation, a dealer may satisfy its access obligation under securities legislation if access to the documents is provided in accordance with subsection 6A.5(2) or (3) of the Regulation. In British Columbia and New Brunswick, a dealer is provided with an exemption from the requirement in securities legislation to send a shelf prospectus supplement, the corresponding base shelf prospectus, the preliminary base shelf prospectus and any amendment to the documents if the conditions set out in subsection 6A.6(1) or (2) of the Regulation are met. In Québec, a dealer is provided with an exemption from the requirement in securities legislation to send a shelf prospectus supplement, the corresponding base shelf prospectus and any amendment to the documents if the conditions set out in subsection 6A.6(1) of the Regulation are met. It is permissible to provide access to the preliminary base shelf prospectus and any amendment if the document has been filed on SEDAR+ and a receipt has been issued and posted on SEDAR+ for the document. “2A.2. News Release To provide access to a shelf prospectus supplement, the corresponding base shelf prospectus and any amendment under Part 6A of the Regulation, a news release including prescribed information must be issued and filed on SEDAR+ after the supplement and any amendment is filed or within two business days before the date the document was filed. The requirements under paragraph 6A.5(2)(c) of the Regulation and the conditions under paragraph 6A.6(1)(c) of the Regulation may be satisfied by including the prescribed information in a news release that contains other information, for example a news release announcing the offering price of the securities or other information with respect to the applicable offering. “2A.3. Structured Notes Part 6A of the Regulation does not apply to MTN programs and other continuous distributions. The securities regulatory authorities note that MTN programs have routinely been used to distribute structured notes. Structured notes are generally specified derivatives for which the amount payable is determined by reference to the price, value or level of an underlying interest that is unrelated to the operations or securities of the structured note issuer. The securities regulatory authorities expect that structured notes will continue to be distributed under MTN programs or other continuous distributions, as they have been historically, and may have public interest concerns if they are distributed in another manner so that the issuer could rely on the access model permitted in Part 6A.”.