BCN 2000/55 - Fee Reductions [BCN - Rescinded]

The government has approved reductions in the Commission’s fees, effective January 1, 2001, to bring fee levels more in line with costs.  Most of the reductions are aimed at fees paid by issuers, primarily mutual funds, for whom the discrepancy between fees and costs has been most significant.  Changes are also being made to eliminate some minor fees and to harmonize registration periods with those of other provinces.

The major changes are:

• reduction in the fee on proceeds of a prospectus distribution from .03% to .02%;
• reduction in the preliminary prospectus filing fee for a mutual fund from $2,500 to $1,500; and
• reduction of $250 in the annual financial statement filing fee for exchange issuers, which will bring the basic fee for CDNX-listed companies to $600, the same level as for other reporting issuers.

B.C. Reg. 388/2000, which is attached to this Notice, also amends section 22 of the Securities Regulation to

• eliminate several fees in the existing fee schedule
  • exempt purchasers (item 13),
  • particular types of prospectus offerings (items 14(a)(ii)(B) and 15),
  • rights offerings without circular (item 21(a)),
  • dividend reinvestment plans (item 22),
  • notice of networking arrangements (item 23),
  • additional fee for expedited applications (item 25),
  • miscellaneous fee (item 31),
  • confidential material change report (item 40),
  • subscription for the Weekly Summary (item 42),
  • listing applications (item 45);
• realign registration fees in conjunction with a reduction in the registration period from two years to one year, the period applicable in other provinces (new items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6);
• increase the upper limit for cost-based charges levied in respect of hearings and investigations (new items 28, 29, 30 and 31); and
• introduce a fee for the late reporting of registrants' financial statements required under the Securities Rules (new item 11).

Subsection (2) of section 22 has been amended to permit the Commission or Executive Director to reduce or waive the fees listed in items 28 to 31 relating to hearings and investigations when to do so would be in the public interest. This confirms current practice.

Subsection (2) continues to allow the Commission, and now also the Executive Director, to waive fees payable by a representative of the media for on-site searches and copies of records in the public file.  The Commission is issuing BC Instrument 11-501, which will continue the relief for the media previously provided in BOR#92/1.

Subsection (3) has been amended to permit the reduction of fees where the registration period is less than one year. In subsection (5), the reference to National Policy 44 has been changed to accord with National Instrument 44-102 and National Instrument 44-103 where applicable. Subsection (8), which included definitions relating to money market mutual funds, has been removed and item 13 now refers to a money market fund as defined in National Instrument 81-102.

A revised fee checklist, which must accompany all fee payments except those made electronically through SEDAR, is attached to this Notice.

DATED at Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 7, 2000.

Douglas M. Hyndman
Chair

Ref:  Securities Regulation, section 22
BCI 11-501
BOR#92/1
NP 44
NI 44-102
NI 44-103
NI 81-102

This NIN may refer to other documents. These documents can be found at the B.C. Securities Commission public website at www.bcsc.bc.ca in the Commission Documents database or the Historical Documents database.