Tamarack Capital Advisors Inc. - s. 7.1(1) of NI 33-109 Registration Information

Decision

Headnote

Application pursuant to section 7.1 of NI 33-109 that the Applicant be relieved from the Form 33-109F requirements in respect of certain of its officers. The exempted officers are without significant authority over any part of the Applicant's operations and have no connection with its Ontario operation. The Applicant is still required to submit 33-109 F4s on behalf of its directing minds, who are certain Executive Officers, and its Registered Individuals, who are those officers involved in the Ontario business activities.

Statutes Cited

Securities Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.5, as am., s. 147.

Rules Cited

National Instrument 33-109 -- Registration Information.

March 25, 2008

IN THE MATTER OF

THE SECURITIES ACT,

R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER S.5, AS AMENDED

(THE JURISDICTION)

AND

IN THE MATTER OF

TAMARACK CAPITAL ADVISORS INC.

 

DECISION

(SUBSECTION 7.1(1) OF

NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 33-109)

UPON the application (the Application) of Tamarack Capital Advisors Inc. (the Applicant) to the Ontario Securities Commission (the Commission) pursuant to section 7.1 of National Instrument 33-109 -- Registration Information (NI 33-109) for an exemption from the requirement in subsection 2.1(c) and section 3.3 of NI 33-109 that the Applicant submit a completed Form 33-109F4 for all Non-Registered Individuals of the Applicant in connection with the Applicant's registration as a dealer in the category of limited market dealer (extra-provincial);

AND UPON considering the Application and the recommendation of staff of the Commission;

AND UPON the Applicant having represented to the Director that:

1. The Applicant is a corporation organized under the laws of the Province of Alberta. The head office of the Applicant is located in Calgary, Alberta.

2. The Applicant is concurrently applying for registration under the Act as a limited market dealer. The Applicant is not currently registered with any other securities regulatory authority.

3. The Applicant's primary business activities are trading in securities with institutional investors, primarily large corporations and pension plans.

4. All individuals who intend to engage in trading activities in Ontario on behalf of the Applicant and who are officers of the Applicant, will seek to become registered as trading officers (the Registered Individuals) in accordance with the registration requirement under section 25(1) of the Act and the requirements of National Instrument 31-102 -- National Registration Database (NI 31-102), by submitting a Form 33-109F4 completed with all the information required for a Registered Individual.

5. Pursuant to NI 33-109, a limited market dealer is required to submit, in accordance with NI 31-102, a completed Form 33-109F4 for each non-registered individual of the Applicant, including all directors and officers who have not applied to become registered individuals of the Applicant under subsection 2.2(1) of NI 33-109.

6. The Applicant's remaining directors and officers will not be seeking registration under the proposed registration application (the Non-Registered Individuals). Pursuant to NI 33-109, a "non-registered individual" includes a director or officer of a firm who is not registered to trade on behalf of the firm. There are currently no individuals who would be included in the definition of "non-registered individual" by reason of an ownership interest in the Applicant or other criteria set out in NI-33-109.

7. Other than the Executive Officers (as defined below), the Applicant's remaining officers would not reasonably be considered to be senior officers of the Applicant from a functional point of view. These officers have the title "vice-president" or a similar title but are not in charge of a principal business unit, division or function of the Applicant and, in any event will not be involved or have oversight of, or direction over, the Applicant's trading activities in Ontario (the Nominal Officers). The Applicant considers its Non-Registered Individuals who will be seeking non-trading officer status (the Executive Officers) as the holders of its most senior executive positions and/or members of the Applicant's executive committee and/or are the individuals that are in direct contact with its Canadian clients from a marketing or direct client relationship perspective. There are currently 12 Executive Officers, eight of whom are directors of the Applicant.

8. The Applicant seeks relief from the requirement to submit Form 33-109F4s for the Nominal Officers. The Applicant proposes to submit Form 33-109F4s on behalf of each of its Executive Officers completed with all the information required for a Non-Registered Individual. The Applicant also proposes to submit a Form 33-109F4 for its Designated Compliance Officer.

9. In the absence of the requested relief, the subsection 2.1(c) of NI 33-109 would require that in conjunction with its proposed registration application, the Applicant submit a completed Form 33-109F4 for each of its Nominal Officers, rather than limiting this filing requirement to the much smaller number of Executive Officers. In addition, the Applicant would be required to submit a completed Form 33-109F4 for any additional new Nominal Officer, if the requested exemption is not granted. The information contained in the filed Form 33-109F4s would also need to be monitored on a constant basis to ensure that notices of change were submitted in accordance with the requirements of section 5.1 of NI 33-109.

10. Given the relatively small scope of the Applicant's proposed activities in Ontario and given that the Nominal Officers will not have any involvement in the Applicant's Ontario activities, the preparation and filing of Form 33-109F4s on behalf of each Nominal Officer would achieve no regulatory purpose, while imposing an unwarranted administrative and compliance burden on the Applicant.

AND WHEREAS the Director is satisfied that it would be not prejudicial to the public interest to make the requested Order on the basis of the terms and conditions proposed.

IT IS ORDERED pursuant to section 7.1 of NI 33-109 that the Applicant is exempt from the requirement in subsection 2.1(c) of NI 33-109 and section 3.3 of NI 33-109 to submit a completed Form 33-109F4 for each of its Non-Registered Individuals who are Nominal Officers not involved in its Ontario business, provided that at no time will the Nominal Officers include any Executive Officer or Designated Compliance Officer, or other officer who will be involved in, or have oversight of, the Applicant's activities in Ontario in any capacity.

"David M. Gilkes"