(1) In this section, “member” means:
(a) a member of the independent review committee;
(b) a former member of the independent review committee; and
(c) the heirs, executors, administrators or other legal representatives of the estate of an individual in (a) or (b).
(2) An investment fund and manager may indemnify a member against all costs, charges and expenses, including an amount paid to settle an action or satisfy a judgment, reasonably incurred by the person in respect of any civil, criminal, administrative, investigative or other proceeding in which the member is involved because of being or having been a member.
(3) An investment fund and manager may advance moneys to a member for the costs, charges and expenses of a proceeding referred to in subsection (2). The member must repay the moneys if the member does not fulfill the conditions of subsection (4).
(4) An investment fund and manager may not indemnify a member under subsection (2) unless
(a) the member acted honestly and in good faith, with a view to the best interests of the investment fund; and
(b) in the case of a criminal or administrative action or proceeding that is enforced by a monetary penalty, the member had reasonable grounds for believing that the individual’s conduct was lawful.
(5) Despite subsection (2), a member referred to in that subsection is entitled to an indemnity from the investment fund in respect of all costs, charges and expenses reasonably incurred by the member in connection with the defence of any civil, criminal, administrative, investigative or other proceeding to which the member is subject because of the member’s association with the investment fund as described in subsection (2), if the member seeking indemnity
(a) was not judged by the court or other competent authority to have committed any fault or omitted to do anything that ought to have been done; and
(b) fulfills the conditions set out in subsection (4).
(6) An investment fund and manager may purchase and maintain insurance for the benefit of any member referred to in subsection (2) against any liability incurred by the member in his or her capacity as a member.
Commentary
1. This Instrument requires that members of an IRC be accountable for their actions. At the same time, this section does not prevent an investment fund or a manager from limiting a member’s financial exposure through insurance and indemnification.
2. This section permits an investment fund and the manager to indemnify and purchase insurance coverage for the members of the IRC on terms comparable to those applicable to directors of corporations. The broad goals underlying the indemnity provisions are to allow for reimbursement for reasonable good faith behaviour, thereby discouraging the hindsight application of perfection to the IRC’s actions.
Under this section, the investment fund is required to indemnify an IRC member who has been sued and has successfully defended the action, subject to certain conditions. If the IRC member does not defend the action successfully, the investment fund and manager may indemnify the member in certain circumstances. The intention of indemnity is to encourage responsible behaviour yet still permit enough leeway to attract strong candidates.
The two conditions which must be satisfied in either instance under this section for an IRC member to be indemnified are:
-
- The IRC member must have acted in a manner consistent with his or her fiduciary duty with respect to the action or matter for which the IRC member is seeking the indemnification; and the IRC member must have had reasonable grounds for believing that his or her conduct was lawful.
- The CSA expect any such coverage to be on reasonable commercial terms.
- It is open to members of the IRC to negotiate contractual indemnities with the manager and the investment fund provided the protection is permissible under this section.