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National Instrument 81-102 Investment Funds
Part 15 Sales Communications and Prohibited Representations
Section 15.3

Prohibited Disclosure in Sales Communications

(1) A sales communication must not compare the performance of an investment fund or asset allocation service with the performance or change of any benchmark or investment unless

(a) it includes all facts that, if disclosed, would be likely to alter materially the conclusions reasonably drawn or implied by the comparison;

(b) it presents data for each subject of the comparison for the same period or periods;

(c) it explains clearly any factors necessary to make the comparison fair and not misleading; and

(d) in the case of a comparison with a benchmark

(i) the benchmark existed and was widely recognized and available during the period for which the comparison is made, or

(ii) the benchmark did not exist for all or part of the period, but a reconstruction or calculation of what the benchmark would have been during that period, calculated on a basis consistent with its current basis of calculation, is widely recognized and available.

(2) A sales communication for a mutual fund or asset allocation service that is prohibited by paragraph 15.6(1)(a) from disclosing performance data must not provide performance data for any benchmark or investment other than a mutual fund or asset allocation service under common management with the mutual fund or asset allocation service to which the sales communication pertains.

(2.1) A sales communication for a non-redeemable investment fund that is restricted by paragraph 15.6(1)(a) from disclosing performance data must not provide performance data for any benchmark or investment, other than a non-redeemable investment fund under common management with the non-redeemable investment fund to which the sales communication pertains.

(3) Despite subsection (2), a sales communication for an index mutual fund may provide performance data for the index on which the investments of the mutual fund are based if the index complies with the requirements for benchmarks contained in paragraph (1)(d).

(4) A sales communication must not refer to a performance rating or ranking of a mutual fund or asset allocation service unless

(a) the rating or ranking is prepared by a mutual fund rating entity;

(b) standard performance data is provided for any mutual fund or asset allocation service for which a performance rating or ranking is given;

(c) the rating or ranking is provided for each period for which standard performance data is required to be given, except the period since the inception of the mutual fund;

(d) the rating or ranking is based on a published category of mutual funds that

(i) provides a reasonable basis for evaluating the performance of the mutual fund or asset allocation service, and

(ii) is not established or maintained by a member of the organization of the mutual fund or asset allocation service;

(e) the sales communication contains the following disclosure:

(i) the name of the category within which the mutual fund or asset allocation service is rated or ranked, including the name of the organization that maintains the category,

(ii) the number of mutual funds in the applicable category for each period of standard performance data required under paragraph (c),

(iii) the name of the mutual fund rating entity that provided the rating or ranking,

(iv) the length of the period or the first day of the period on which the rating or ranking is based, and its ending date,

(v) a statement that the rating or ranking is subject to change every month,

(vi) the criteria on which the rating or ranking is based, and

(vii) if the rating or ranking consists of a symbol rather than a number, the meaning of the symbol, and

(f) the rating or ranking is to the same calendar month end that is

(i) not more than 45 days before the date of the appearance or use of the advertisement in which it is included, and

(ii) not more than three months before the date of first publication of any other sales communication in which it is included.

(4.1) Despite paragraph (4)(c), a sales communication may refer to an overall rating or ranking of a mutual fund or asset allocation service in addition to each rating or ranking required under paragraph (4)(c) if the sales communication otherwise complies with the requirements of subsection (4).

(5) A sales communication must not refer to a credit rating of securities of an investment fund unless

(a) the rating is current and was prepared by a designated rating organization or its DRO affiliate;

(b) there has been no announcement by the designated rating organization or any of its DRO affiliates of which the investment fund or its manager is or ought to be aware that the credit rating of the securities may be down-graded; and

(c) no designated rating organization or any of its DRO affiliates is currently rating the securities at a lower level.

(6) A sales communication must not refer to a mutual fund as, or imply that it is, a money fund, cash fund or money market fund unless, at the time the sales communication is used and for each period for which money market fund standard performance data is provided, the mutual fund is and was a money market fund under this Instrument.

(7) A sales communication must not state or imply that a registered retirement savings plan, registered retirement income fund or registered education savings plan in itself, rather than the investment fund to which the sales communication relates, is an investment.