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Companion Policy to NI 55-104 Insider Reporting Requirements and Exemptions
Part 5 Automatic Securities Purchase Plans
Section 5.1

Automatic Securities Purchase Plans

(1) Section 5.1 of the Instrument contains an interpretation provision that applies to Part 5. Because of this provision, directors and officers of a reporting issuer and of a major subsidiary of a reporting issuer can use the exemption in this Part for both acquisitions and specified dispositions of securities and related financial instruments under an automatic securities purchase plan (ASPP).

(2) The exemption does not apply to securities acquired under a cash payment option of a dividend or interest reinvestment plan or a lump-sum provision of a share purchase plan.

(3) The exemption does not apply to an “automatic securities disposition plan” (sometimes referred to as a “pre-arranged structured sales plan”) (an ASDP) established between a reporting insider and a broker, since an ASDP is designed to facilitate dispositions not acquisitions. However, if a reporting insider can demonstrate that an ASDP is genuinely an automatic plan and that the insider cannot make discrete investment decisions through the plan, we may consider granting exemptive relief on an application basis to permit the insider to file reports on an annual basis.

(4) The exemption is not available for a grant of options or similar securities to reporting insiders, since, in many cases, the reporting insider will be able to make an investment decision in respect of the grant. If an insider is an executive officer or a director of the reporting issuer or a major subsidiary, the insider may be participating in the decision to grant the options or other securities. Even if the insider does not participate in the decision, we think information about options or similar securities granted to this group of insiders is important to the market and the insider should disclose this information in a timely manner.


Companion Policy to NI 55-104 Insider Reporting Requirements and Exemptions
Part 5 Automatic Securities Purchase Plans
Section 5.2

Specified Dispositions of Securities

(1) Paragraph 5.1(3)(a) of the Instrument provides that a disposition or transfer of securities is a specified disposition if, among other things, it does not involve a “discrete investment decision” by the director or officer. The term “discrete investment decision” generally refers to the exercise of discretion involved in a specific decision to purchase, hold or sell a security. The purchase of a security as a result of the application of a pre-determined, mechanical formula does not generally represent a discrete investment decision (other than the initial decision to enter into the plan). For example, for an individual who holds stock options in a reporting issuer, the decision to exercise the stock options will generally represent a discrete investment decision. If the individual is a reporting insider, we think the individual should report this information in a timely fashion, since this decision may convey information that other market participants may consider relevant to their own investing decisions.

(2) The definition of “specified disposition of securities” contemplates, among other things, a disposition made to satisfy a tax withholding obligation arising from the acquisition of securities under an ASPP in certain circumstances. Under some types of ASPPs, an issuer or plan administrator may sell, on behalf of a plan participant, a portion of the securities that would otherwise be distributed to the plan participant in order to satisfy a tax withholding obligation. In such plans, the participant typically may elect either to provide the issuer or the plan administrator with a cheque to cover this liability or to direct the issuer or plan administrator to sell a sufficient number of the securities that would otherwise be distributed to cover this liability. In many cases, for reasons of convenience, a plan participant will simply direct the issuer or the plan administrator to sell a portion of the securities.

Although we think that the election as to how a tax withholding obligation will be funded contains an element of a discrete investment decision, we are satisfied that, where the election occurs sufficiently in advance of the actual disposition of securities, it is acceptable for a report of a disposition made to satisfy a tax withholding obligation to be made on an annual basis. Accordingly, a disposition made to satisfy a tax withholding obligation will be a specified disposition of securities if it meets the criteria contained in paragraph 5.1(3)(b) of the Instrument.


Companion Policy to NI 55-104 Insider Reporting Requirements and Exemptions
Part 5 Automatic Securities Purchase Plans
Section 5.3

Alternative Reporting Requirements

If securities acquired under an ASPP are disposed of or transferred, other than through a specified disposition of securities, and the insider has not previously disclosed the acquisition of these securities, the insider report should disclose, for each acquisition of securities which the insider is now disposing of or transferring, information about the date of acquisition of the securities, the number of securities acquired and the acquisition price of such securities. The report should also disclose, for each disposition or transfer, information about each disposition or transfer of securities.


Companion Policy to NI 55-104 Insider Reporting Requirements and Exemptions
Part 5 Automatic Securities Purchase Plans
Section 5.4

Exemption from the Alternative Reporting Requirement

The rationale underlying the alternative reporting requirement is the need for reporting insiders to periodically update their publicly disclosed holdings to ensure that their publicly disclosed holdings convey an accurate picture of their holdings. If an individual has ceased to be subject to the insider reporting requirements at the time the alternative report becomes due, the market generally would not benefit from the information in the alternative report. Accordingly, we provided an exemption in subsection 5.4(3) of the Instrument in these circumstances.


Companion Policy to NI 55-104 Insider Reporting Requirements and Exemptions
Part 5 Automatic Securities Purchase Plans
Section 5.5

Design and Administration of Plans

(1) Part 5 of the Instrument provides a limited exemption from the insider reporting requirement only in circumstances in which an insider, by virtue of participation in an ASPP, is not making discrete investment decisions for acquisitions under such plan. Accordingly, if it is intended that insiders of an issuer rely on this exemption for a particular plan of an issuer, the issuer should design and administer the plan in a manner that is consistent with this limitation.

(2) To fit within the definition of an ASPP, the plan must set out a written formula or criteria for establishing the timing of the acquisitions, the number of securities that the insider can acquire and the price payable. If a plan participant is able to exercise discretion in relation to these matters either in the capacity of a recipient of the securities or through participating in the decision-making process of the issuer making the grant, he or she may be able to make a discrete investment decision in respect of the grant or acquisition. We think a reporting insider in these circumstances should disclose information about the grant within the normal timeframe and not on a deferred basis.