8577846 24(1) 3-911965
Dear Sirs:
Re: 24(1) Advance Income Tax Ruling Pension Fund Swaps
This is in reply to your letter of July 12,1991, in request of the above noted advance income tax ruling. We also acknowledge receipt of your letter of September 9, 1991 received today by courier.
As discussed during a recent telephone conversation 19(1) Harding) we are unable to provide an advance income tax ruling in respect of a proposed transaction between two parties where the particulars of the specific transaction and the identity of the parties involved is not provided.
As you noted during that conversation and as stated in paragraph 8 of our Information circular 70-6R2, in certain cases, the Department will provide rulings which apply to a group of unnamed persons. However, such rulings are generally limited to those cases in which all of the relevant facts pertaining to the proposal can be determined except for the identity of one or more of the parties to the transaction who never the less can be described as falling within a certain class of persons. For example, a ruling could be issued if your client were proposing to market a specifically defined product to a class of investors composed largely of pension plan administrators. From the facts provided with your submission, however, this is not the case. Instead you are proposing to enter into transactions which, while falling within a class described as "Index Swaps", will in fact have widely varied terms depending on the needs and desires of the specific pensions. Accordingly, we could only issue rulings to you on a case by case basis.
As was further discussed during the above noted conversation, should you wish to resubmit your ruling request in the manner noted above, we would also request that you provide all information necessary for its review as more fully described in paragraph 15 of the Department's Information Circular 70-6R2 a copy of which is enclosed. We will defer comment on your most recent submission until such time as you proceed with an amended ruling request.
We regret that we could not be more favourable but trust that our comments will be of assistance to you. Your deposit will be returned under separate cover.
Yours truly,
for Director Financial Industries Division Rulings Directorate Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Branch