O. Reg. 157/03: CROSS BORDER LEASES RELATING TO TORONTO TRANSIT, TAX MATTERS - TIME LIMITS FOR 2005 UNDER SECTIONS 308, 308.1, 310, 311, 314, 329.1 AND 362 OF THE ACT

Municipal Act, 2001
Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités

ONTARIO REGULATION 157/03

Amended to O. Reg. 601/06

CROSS BORDER LEASES RELATING TO TORONTO TRANSIT

Note: This Regulation was revoked on December 27, 2006. See: O. Reg. 601/06, s. 1.

This Regulation is made in English only.

Definitions

1. In this Regulation,

“City” means the City of Toronto;

“cross border lease” means a lease described in subsection 2 (1);

“hedging agreement” means an agreement defined in subsection 5 (1);

“related service agreement” means an agreement described in section 4. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 1.

Application

2. (1) This Regulation applies to a lease of subway cars from another party by the City under subsection 110 (1) of the Act if,

(a) the lease is part of a financing arrangement for subway cars to be used by the Toronto Transit Commission that arises out of the City’s Request for Proposals #9162-00-7007; and

(b) payments under the lease are expressed and payable partially or wholly in at least one of the foreign currencies set out in the Schedule. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 2 (1).

(2) A cross border lease is prescribed, for the purpose of section 110 of the Act, as a category of lease which the City may enter and under which payments may be expressed and payable in a foreign currency set out in the Schedule. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 2 (2).

Conditions for cross border leases

3. (1) The City shall enter a cross border lease only if,

(a) the City enters one or more hedging agreements made in accordance with section 5 in relation to the lease; and

(b) all of the City’s long-term debt obligations are rated, on the date the City enters into the lease,

(i) by Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited or any successor of that corporation as “AA(Low)” or higher,

(i.1) by Fitch Ratings or any successor of that corporation as “AA-” or higher,

(ii) by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or any successor of that corporation as “Aa3” or higher, or

(iii) by Standard and Poor’s or any successor of that entity as “AA-” or higher. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 3 (1); O. Reg. 652/05, s. 1.

(2) The City shall use any amount received by it from a cross border lease or other transaction authorized under this Regulation for the purposes of the Toronto Transit Commission or of a local passenger transportation system if the amount is not needed to pay for the obligations of the City under the lease or transaction or for expenses of the City related to the lease or transaction. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 3 (2).

Related service agreement

4. (1) A related service agreement shall,

(a) have as its primary purpose to ensure that a service provider named in the agreement will operate and maintain the subway cars and related property that are the subject of the cross border lease to which the service agreement is related once the lease is terminated;

(b) be referred to in the cross border lease described in section 2 as an agreement that may come into existence at the end of the term of the lease; and

(c) provide that payments made by the City under the agreement are expressed and payable in the same foreign currency as is provided for under the cross border lease. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 4 (1).

(2) A related service agreement made by the City is prescribed, for the purposes of section 401 of the Act, as a financial agreement that the City may enter in relation to a debt in respect of the financing of the subway cars and related property to which the agreement relates. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 4 (2).

(3) A related service agreement made by the City is deemed to be a debenture for the purposes of section 411 of the Act and may require that payments made under the agreement be expressed and made in a foreign currency set out in the Schedule. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 4 (3).

(4) For greater certainty, a regulation made under section 411 of the Act with respect to debentures shall not apply to a related service agreement that is deemed to be a debenture under subsection (3). O. Reg. 157/03, s. 4 (4).

(5) The City may enter a related service agreement only if,

(a) the City enters one or more hedging agreements made in accordance with section 5 in relation to the agreement; and

(b) all of the City’s long-term debt obligations are rated, on the date the City enters into the lease,

(i) by Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited or any successor of that corporation as “AA(Low)” or higher,

(i.1) by Fitch Ratings or any successor of that corporation as “AA-” or higher,

(ii) by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or any successor of that corporation as “Aa3” or higher, or

(iii) by Standard and Poor’s or any successor of that entity as “AA-” or higher. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 4 (5); O. Reg. 652/05, s. 2.

Hedging agreements

5. (1) In this section,

“hedging agreement” means an agreement to minimize the risks associated with making payments in a foreign currency under a cross border lease or any related service agreement and to minimize any costs associated with the making of such payments, and includes a foreign currency exchange agreement, deposit agreement and pledge, payment undertaking, assumption agreement, forward payment agreement, payment arrangement agreement and any other similar financial instrument;

“payment arrangement agreement” means a hedging agreement entered into in connection with a cross border lease or a related service agreement under which either or both of the following are provided for:

1. Payments in amounts equal to all or part of the payments required to be made by the City under the lease or the related service agreement, and in the same currency as is required for those payments under the lease or the related service agreement, shall be made to the lessor under the lease or to the service provider named in the related service agreement by a person named in the payment arrangement agreement on behalf of the City at the times the lease or related service agreement payments are due.

2. Funds or securities are set aside for the sole purpose of allowing the City, or a person on the City’s behalf, to make all or part of the payments that the City is required to make under the lease or related service agreement at the times they are due under the lease or related service agreement, where the funds or securities set aside are to be,

i. in the same currency as the currency in which the payments are required to be made under the lease or the related service agreement, and

ii. in an amount which, together with interest earnings on such funds or securities, will be sufficient to make the payments. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 5 (1).

(2) A hedging agreement made by the City in connection with a cross border agreement or a related service agreement is prescribed, for the purposes of section 401 of the Act, as a financial agreement that a municipality may enter in relation to a debt that arises out of cross border lease agreement or a related service agreement. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 5 (2).

(3) A hedging agreement made by the City in connection with a cross border agreement or a related service agreement is deemed to be a debenture for the purposes of section 411 of the Act and may require that payments made under the hedging agreement be expressed and made in a foreign currency set out in the Schedule. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 5 (3).

(4) For greater certainty, a regulation made under section 411 of the Act with respect to debentures shall not apply to a hedging agreement that is deemed to be a debenture under subsection (3). O. Reg. 157/03, s. 5 (4).

(5) Despite subsection (3), a hedging agreement, other than a hedging agreement referred to in subsection (6), shall require that any payments of fixed unconditional amounts made by the City shall be expressed and payable in Canadian currency. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 5 (5).

(6) A hedging agreement may provide for payments of fixed unconditional amounts to be expressed and payable in a foreign currency set out in the Schedule if,

(a) the hedging agreement provided for, or was conditional on, the City receiving an amount in the particular foreign currency that is equal to the total amount of such payments the City is required to make under the agreement prior to the beginning of the payment obligations under the agreement; or

(b) the hedging agreement is a payment arrangement agreement. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 5 (6).

(7) A cross border lease and all the hedging agreements entered into in connection with the cross border lease, when read together, shall provide for the reduction of currency risk with respect to the entire amount of fixed unconditional payments under the lease. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 5 (7).

(8) A related service agreement and all the hedging agreements entered into in connection with the related service agreement, when read together, shall provide for the reduction of currency risk with respect to the entire amount of fixed unconditional payments under the agreement. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 5 (8).

Conditions for hedging agreement

6. (1) The City may only enter a hedging agreement with,

(a) a person who has one or more debt obligations which on the date the agreement is entered are rated,

(i) by Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited or any successor of that corporation as “AA(Low)” or higher,

(i.1) by Fitch Ratings or any successor of that corporation as “AA-” or higher,

(ii) by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or any successor of that corporation as “Aa3” or higher, or

(iii) by Standard and Poor’s or any successor of that entity as “AA-” or higher; or

(b) a person whose obligations under the agreement are unconditionally guaranteed by a person described in clause (a). O. Reg. 157/03, s. 6 (1); O. Reg. 652/05, s. 3.

(2) The City shall enter a hedging agreement in connection with a cross border lease or a related service agreement within five business days after the day the lease or related service agreement is made. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 6 (2).

(3) The City may enter a hedging agreement to replace an existing hedging agreement made in connection with a cross border lease or a related service agreement only if,

(a) a person, other than the City, who is a party to the first hedging agreement or an assignee of that person,

(i) becomes bankrupt within the meaning of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada);

(ii) no longer meets the requirements of subsection (1),

(iii) defaults under the agreement, or

(iv) assigns the agreement or rights under the agreement to any person without the consent of the City; or

(b) in the opinion of the City’s treasurer, the creditworthiness of a person, other than the City, who is a party to the agreement or an assignee of such a party has deteriorated or is reasonably likely to deteriorate. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 6 (3).

Indemnity

7. The City shall not enter into a cross border lease or a related service agreement that provides that the City may indemnify a person for taxes payable by that person in respect of payments made by the City under the lease or agreement unless the City first obtains legal or financial advice addressing whether the proposed indemnity provisions are consistent with tax indemnity provisions in comparable commercially available cross border leasing or related servicing arrangements. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 7.

City debt and financial obligation limit

8. The City’s treasurer shall not include the amounts payable in any given year under a cross border lease or a related service agreement in the update of its debt and financial obligation limit under subsection 4 (2) of Ontario Regulation 403/02 or in the calculation performed under subsection 4 (3) of that regulation if the treasurer has in a previous year included in an update or calculation under those subsections the annual amounts payable under another method of financing for the subway cars that are the subject matter of the cross border lease or related service agreement. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 8.

Report to council

9. (1) If the City has a cross border lease or related service agreement in effect in a fiscal year, or any subsisting hedging agreement in connection with such a lease or agreement, the treasurer of the City shall prepare and present to the municipal council once in that fiscal year, or more frequently if the municipal council so desires, a detailed report on the cross border lease, related service agreement or hedging agreement, as the case may be. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 9 (1).

(2) The cross border lease report referred to in subsection (1) shall contain,

(a) a description of the estimated proportion of the total financing arrangements of the City that is undertaken through cross border leases or related service agreements to the total long term debt of the City and a description of the change, if any, in that estimated proportion since the previous year’s report; and

(b) such other information that the council may require or that, in the opinion of the City’s treasurer, should be included. O. Reg. 157/03, s. 9 (2).

SCHEDULE
FOREIGN CURRENCIES

1. Dollars of Australia.

2. Yen of Japan.

3. Francs of Switzerland.

4. Sterling money of the United Kingdom.

5. Dollars of the United States of America.

6. The euro currency adopted by member states of the European Union.

O. Reg. 157/03, Sched.