Commission Approval of Rule: OSC Rule - 55-502 - Facsimile Filing or Delivery of Insider Reports

 

NOTICE OF RULE 55-502
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT
FACSIMILE FILING OR DELIVERY OF INSIDER REPORTS

Notice of Rule

The Commission has, under section 143 of the Securities Act (the "Act"), made Rule 55-502 Facsimile Filing or Delivery of Insider Reports (the "Rule").

The Rule and the material required by the Act to be delivered to the Minister of Finance were delivered on April 8, 1998. If the Minister does not approve theRule, reject the Rule or return it to the Commission for further consideration, the Rule will come into force on June 22, 1998. If the Minister approves the Rule,the Rule will come into force 15 days after it is approved.

Concurrently with making Rule 55-502, the Commission has amended section 161 of the Regulation to the Act. See "Regulations to be Amended" below.

Substance and Purpose of Rule

The purpose of the Rule is to allow for the signing, filing and delivery of insider reports by facsimile.

Sections 107, 108 and 109 of the Securities Act (the "Act") require the filing or delivery of insider reports and other related reports with the Commission.Section 140 of the Act provides that the filing of material required to be filed by Ontario securities law must be effected by depositing the material, or causing thematerial to be deposited, with the Commission. A rule is required to allow for the signing, filing or delivery of insider reports by facsimile because section 161 ofthe Regulation to the Act provides that except as otherwise provided in the Act, certain sections of the Regulation and one Rule, documents required to besigned or certified must be manually signed. Section 161 of the Regulation does not consider a document filed by facsimile to be manually signed.

Once the Rule is in force, if an insider report is filed by facsimile, the person or company filing the report is not required to deliver or mail another copy to theCommission.

Summary of Rule

The Rule sets out the requirements relating to the signing, filing and delivery of insider reports by facsimile. Under the Rule, facsimile filings will be consideredto be filed with or delivered to the Commission on the day that the facsimile transmission to the Commission is completed. The Rule requires that the facsimiletransmission be made to a facsimile number specified by the Commission. See "Specification of Facsimile Number" below.

Summary of Written Comments Received by the Commission

A proposed version of the Rule was published by the Commission for comment on January 24, 1997 ((1997), 20 OSCB 378). No written comments werereceived on the proposed Rule.

Specification of Facsimile Number

The Commission has specified 416-593-3666 as the facsimile number to which facsimile filings made under the Rule should be sent.

Regulations to be Amended

The Commission has, by regulation, amended section 161 of the Regulation to add a reference to the proposed Rule so that the words appearing before clause(a) of section 161 now read "Except as otherwise provided in the Act, section 11, 174 or 181 of this Regulation, the Rule entitled "In the Matter of CertainReporting Issuers", [1980] OSCB 166 or Rule 55-502 Facsimile Filing or Delivery of Insider Reports,". The Regulation is subject to the approval of theMinister of Finance and will not be effective before the Rule comes into force.

The Commission will also request the Lieutenant Governor in Council to amend sections 173 and 174 of the Regulation to replace references to Form 36 withreferences to Form 55-501F1.

Text of Proposed Rule

The text of the Rule follows.

DATED: April 10, 1998.