Investment Research
BC-2.10.8
Where an
investment firm licensee issuesinvestment research , its conflicts policy must specify the types ofinvestment research issued by it. Aninvestment firm licensee that prepares and publishes investment research must have adequate procedures and controls to ensure:(a) The effective supervision ofinvestment analysts by following at the very least the items listed in Paragraph BC-2.12.11;(b) That any actual or potential conflicts of interest are managed in accordance with Rule BC-2.10.1; and(c) That the investment research issued toclients is not biased.Amended: January 2007BC-2.10.9
Investment firm licensees that publishinvestment research must take reasonable steps to ensure that theinvestment research :(a) Identifies the types ofclients for which it is principally intended;(b) Distinguishes fact from opinion or estimates, and includes references to sources of data used;(c) Specifies the date when it was first published;(d) Specifies the period the ratings or recommendations are intended to cover;(e) Contains a clear and unambiguous explanation of the rating or recommendation system used;(f) Includes a price chart or line graph depicting the performance of thefinancial instrument for the period that theinvestment firm licensee has assigned a rating or recommendation for thatfinancial instrument , which must also show the dates on which the ratings were revised; and(g) Includes a distribution of the different ratings or recommendations, in percentage terms for allfinancial instruments in respect of which the investment business licensee publishes investment research.Amended: July 2015
Amended: January 2007BC-2.10.10
Investment firm licensees must take reasonable steps to ensure that when it publishes investment research, disclosure is made of the following matters:(a) Any financial interest or material interest that theinvestment analyst or a close relative has, which relates to thefinancial instrument ;(b) Any shareholding by theinvestment firm licensee or its associate of 1% or more of the total issued share capital of the issuer;(c) Whether theinvestment firm licensee or its associate acts as corporate broker for the issuer;(d) Any material shareholding by the issuer in theinvestment firm licensee ;(e) [This Subparagraph was deleted in July 2015]; and(f) Whether theinvestment firm licensee is a market maker in thefinancial instrument .Amended: July 2015
Amended: January 2007BC-2.10.11
If an
investment firm licensee acts as a manager or co-manager of an initial public offering or a secondary offering it must take reasonable steps to ensure that it does not publish investment research relating to thefinancial instrument during the period beginning on the day of publication of the listing particulars or a prospectus relating to the offering of thatfinancial instrument and ending on the 30th calendar day after the day on which thefinancial instrument is admitted to trading.BC-2.10.12
Investment firm licensees and their associates must not knowingly execute an own account transaction in afinancial instrument , which is the subject of investment research, prepared either by theinvestment firm licensee or its associate, until theclients for whom the investment research was principally intended have had a reasonable opportunity to act upon it.BC-2.10.13
The restriction in Rule BC-2.10.11 does not apply if:
(a) Theinvestment firm licensee or its associate is a market maker in the relevantfinancial instrument ;(b) Theinvestment firm licensee or its associate executes an unsolicited transaction for aclient ; or(c) It is not expected to materially affect the price of thefinancial instrument .Amended: January 2007