CSA Implements 8 Initiatives to Reduce Regulatory Burden for Investment Funds

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published CSA Notice of Amendments Reducing Regulatory Burden for Investment Fund Issuers - Phase 2, Stage 1 that includes the amendments required to reduce the regulatory burden on investments funds through the 8 following changes:

1. Consolidation of the simplified prospectus and annual information form into one document;
2. Mandating the requirement for each investment fund to have a designated website to post the fund's regulatory disclosure;
3. Allowing the use of notice-and-access system for investments funds;
4. Eliminating the requirement for personal information form filings by individual registrants and permitted individuals that have previously filed a Form 33-109F4 Registration of Individuals and Review of Permitted Individuals;
5. Providing exemptions to permit various conflict of interest relief including fund-on-fund investments by investment funds that are not reporting issuers, inter-fund trades of portfolio securities between related reporting investment funds and investment funds that are not reporting issuers to invest in securities of a related issuer over an exchange;
6. Broadening the pre-approval criteria for investment fund mergers;
7. Eliminating the requirement for exemptive relief for a change of manager, change of control of a manager or change of custodian as a result of a change of manager; and
8. Providing relief from the fund facts and ETF facts delivery requirement for purchases of a conventional mutual fund securities made in managed accounts or by permitted clients that are not individuals, for subsequent purchases of conventional mutual fund securities under model portfolio products and portfolio rebalancing services and automatic switch programs. 

The amendments come into force on January 5, 2022 (#3-#8 above) and January 6, 2022 (#1 and #2 above) and provide an exemption from compliance with #1 and #2 for the period before September 6, 2022.