Publications

December 16, 2016

Changes to the Taxation of Switch Funds

Effective January 1, 2017, new rules will govern the taxation of mutual fund corporations structured as “switch funds”. Investors switching between funds will no longer be able to do so without incurring taxable capital gains. This article summarizes the impact of such changes. Description of (…)

December 7, 2016

October news on the Canadian infrastructure market

Creation of a Canadian infrastructure bank On October 20, 2016, the Advisory Council on Economic Growth published its report entitled “Unleashing Productivity Through Infrastructure”. One of the report’s recommendations is to create a Canadian Infrastructure Development Bank whose objective (…)

December 7, 2016

Overview of the Canadian Public-Private Partnerships market

The Public-Private Partnership delivery model (“PPP” or “P3”) is now well established in Canada, where more than 177 of such projects were closed between 1993 and 2015 (source: InfraAmericas). The great majority thereof (166) have been closed since 2004, and the current trend indicates the number (…)

December 7, 2016

Renewable energies: the trend is toward hybrid financing

For about two years now, most renewable energy projects, particularly wind farm projects, have been financed using a so-called “hybrid” model, i.e. a combination of medium-term bank debt and long-term financing or private placements. The term “hybrid” is derived from the vocabulary of the (…)

October 31, 2016

Pension plans and their investment rules: investing in alternative investment funds in full compliance

Numerous pension plans today are among the largest investors of capital in private equity, venture capital and hedge funds.1 In many cases, such pension plans hold assets valued in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars (or even more) consisting of various categories and sub-categories of (…)

October 21, 2016

Use of “private” mutual fund trusts for employee’ investments through an RRSP

An increasing number of employers are looking at the possibility of creating investment vehicles to allow their employees to make investments in the employer corporation or a portfolio managed by the employer that will qualify for inclusion in, inter alia, registered retirement savings plans (RRSP), (…)

October 21, 2016

Positive advice of the European Securities and Markets Authority to the extension of the European passport to the managers of alternative investment funds in Canada

Martine Samuelian and Virginia Barat, JEANTET On July 18, 2016, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a favourable advice for a future extension of the European passport concerning Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs)1 in Canada. This advice, which is based on (…)

June 29, 2016

Options available to Canadian managers under the European AIF marketing rules

Martine Samuelian and Virginia Barat, JEANTET This article is supplementing the May 2016 issue of the Lavery Capital newsletter, number 9, which discusses the potential extension of the European passport regime (the “Passport”) – established under EU Directive no. 2011/61/EU (the “Directive”) – to (…)

May 25, 2016

Impact of the possible extension of the European passport regime on Canadian fund managers

Martine Samuelian and Virginia Barat, JEANTET Since July 22, 2013, investment fund managers (“managers”) in Canada who wish to raise funds from investors located in member states of the European Union (the “EU”) have had to consider Directive 2011/61/EU1 (the “Directive”), dealing with managers of (…)

April 11, 2016

The Quebec Government reaffirms its support for venture capital funds

On March 17, 2016, Finance Minister Carlos Leitão tabled the Quebec Government’s 2016-2017 budget in the National Assembly. The budget contains several measures intended to foster job creation and economic growth, with a special emphasis on innovation, environmentally friendly practices, and digital (…)

April 11, 2016

Proposal towards standardized disclosures of fees and expenses information by private equity funds

Last January, the Institutional Limited Partners Association (the “ILPA”), a voluntary association promoting the interests of private equity limited partners, issued a “Fee Reporting Template” along with a guide (collectively, the “Template”) which forms part of the ILPA’s “Fee Transparency (…)

February 15, 2016

IIROC White Paper — Proposed changes to the current structure for distributing mutual funds in Canada

On November 25, 2015, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) published a White Paper for consultation. It is seeking comment on two proposals which, if approved and implemented, would change the current structure for distributing mutual funds in Canada. A “restricted (…)

January 12, 2016

The TSX Venture Exchange reaches out to the VC community

The TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSX-V”) has released a white paper which describes how it intends to become an attractive public market for early-stage companies from fast-growing sectors such as technology, clean technology, renewable energy and life sciences (the “high-growth sectors”) and how it (…)