Investment Company Act Release No. 33681; File No. 812-15036
| Published date | 12 November 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 61113 |
| Record Number | 2019-24468 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Securities And Exchange Commission |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61113-61114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24468]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Investment Company Act Release No. 33681; File No. 812-15036
Gabelli ETFs Trust, et al.
November 5, 2019.
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'').
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice of an application for an order under section 6(c) of the
Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') for an exemption from sections
2(a)(32), 5(a)(1), and 22(d) of the Act and rule 22c-1 under the Act,
under sections 6(c) and 17(b) of the Act for an exemption from sections
17(a)(1) and 17(a)(2) of the Act, and under section 12(d)(1)(J) of the
Act for an exemption from sections 12(d)(1)(A) and 12(d)(1)(B) of the
Act.
Applicants: Gabelli ETFs Trust (the ``Trust''), Gabelli Funds, LLC
(the ``Adviser'') and G.distributors, LLC (the ``Distributor'').
Summary of Application: Applicants request an order (``Order'')
that permits: (a) ActiveShares ETFs (as described in the Reference
Order (as defined below)) to issue shares (``Shares'') redeemable in
large aggregations only (``creation units''); (b) secondary market
transactions in Shares to occur at negotiated market prices rather than
at net asset value; (c) certain affiliated persons of an ActiveShares
ETF to deposit securities into, and receive securities from, the
ActiveShares ETF in connection with the purchase and redemption of
creation units; and (d) certain registered management investment
companies and unit investment trusts outside of the same group of
investment companies as the ActiveShares ETFs to acquire Shares of the
ActiveShares ETFs. The Order would incorporate by reference terms and
conditions of a previous order granting the same relief sought by
applicants, as that order may be amended from time to time (``Reference
Order'').\1\
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\1\ Precidian ETFs Trust, et al., Investment Company Act Rel.
Nos. 33440 (April 8, 2019) (notice) and 33477 (May 20, 2019)
(order).
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Filing Date: The application was filed on May 22, 2019 and amended
on September 16, 2019 and October 31, 2019.
Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An order granting the requested
relief will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing.
Interested persons may request a hearing by writing to the Commission's
Secretary and serving applicants with a copy of the request, personally
or by mail. Hearing requests should be received by the Commission by
5:30 p.m. on December 2, 2019, and should be accompanied by proof of
service on applicants, in the form of an affidavit or, for lawyers, a
certificate of service. Pursuant to rule 0-5 under the Act, hearing
requests should state the nature of the writer's interest, any facts
bearing upon the desirability of a hearing on the matter, the reason
for the request, and the issues contested. Persons who wish to be
notified of a hearing may request notification by writing to the
Commission's Secretary.
ADDRESSES: Secretary, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F
Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090. Applicants: Gabelli ETFs Trust,
Gabelli Funds, LLC, G.distributors, LLC, One Corporate Center, Rye, NY
10580-1422.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deepak T. Pai, Senior Counsel, at
(202) 551-6876 or Andrea Ottomanelli Magovern, Branch Chief, at (202)
551-6825 (Division of Investment Management, Chief Counsel's Office).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the
application. The complete application may be obtained via the
Commission's website by searching for the file number, or for an
applicant using the Company name box, at http://www.sec.gov/search/search.htm or by calling (202) 551-8090.
Applicants
1. The Trust is a statutory trust organized under the laws of the
State of Delaware and will consist of one or more series operating as
ActiveShares ETFs. The Trust will be registered as an
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open-end management investment company under the Act. Applicants seek
relief with respect to ten Funds (as defined below, and those Funds,
the ``Initial Funds''). The Funds will operate as ActiveShares ETFs as
described in the Reference Order.\2\
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\2\ To facilitate arbitrage, an ActiveShares ETF disseminates a
``verified intraday indicative value'' or ``VIIV,'' reflecting the
value of its portfolio holdings, calculated every second during the
trading day. To protect the identity and weightings of its portfolio
holdings, an ActiveShares ETF sells and redeems its Shares in
creation units to authorized participants only through an
unaffiliated broker-dealer acting on an agency basis.
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2. The Adviser, a New York limited liability company, will be the
investment adviser to the Initial Funds. An Adviser (as defined below)
will serve as investment adviser to each Fund. The Adviser is, and any
other Adviser will be, registered as an investment adviser under the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (``Advisers Act''). The Adviser may
enter into sub-advisory agreements with other investment advisers to
act as sub-advisers with respect to the Funds (each a ``Sub-Adviser'').
Any Sub-Adviser will be registered under the Advisers Act.
3. The Distributor is a Delaware limited liability company and a
broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, and will act as the principal underwriter of Shares of the
Funds. Applicants request that the requested relief apply to any
distributor of Shares, whether affiliated or unaffiliated with the
Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser (included in the term ``Distributor''). Any
Distributor will comply with the terms and conditions of the Order.
Applicants' Requested Exemptive Relief
4. Applicants seek the requested Order under section 6(c) of the
Act for an exemption from sections 2(a)(32), 5(a)(1), and 22(d) of the
Act and rule 22c-1 under the Act, under sections 6(c) and 17(b) of the
Act for an exemption from sections 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(2) of the Act,
and under section 12(d)(1)(J) of the Act for an exemption from sections
12(d)(1)(A) and 12(d)(1)(B) of the Act. The requested Order would
permit applicants to offer ActiveShares ETFs. Because the relief
requested is the same as the relief granted by the Commission under the
Reference Order and because the Adviser has entered into a licensing
agreement with Precidian Funds LLC in order to offer ActiveShares
ETFs,\3\ the Order would incorporate by reference the terms and
conditions of the Reference Order.
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\3\ Aspects of the Funds are covered by intellectual property
rights, including but not limited to those which are described in
one or more patent applications.
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5. Applicants request that the Order apply to the Initial Funds and
to any other existing or future open-end management investment company
or series thereof that: (a) Is advised by the Adviser or any entity
controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Adviser
(any such entity included in the term ``Adviser''); (b) operates as an
ActiveShares ETF as described in the Reference Order; and (c) complies
with the terms and conditions of the Order and of the Reference Order,
which is incorporated by reference into the Order (each such company or
series and any Initial Fund, a ``Fund'').\4\
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\4\ All entities that currently intend to rely on the Order are
named as applicants. Any other entity that relies on the Order in
the future will comply with the terms and conditions of the Order
and of the Reference Order, which is incorporated by reference into
the Order.
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6. Section 6(c) of the Act provides that the Commission may exempt
any person, security or transaction, or any class of persons,
securities or transactions, from any provisions of the Act, if and to
the extent that such exemption is necessary or appropriate in the
public interest and consistent with the protection of investors and the
purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of the Act.
Section 17(b) of the Act authorizes the Commission to exempt a proposed
transaction from section 17(a) of the Act if evidence establishes that
the terms of the transaction, including the consideration to be paid or
received, are reasonable and fair and do not involve overreaching on
the part of any person concerned, and the transaction is consistent
with the policies of the registered investment company and the general
purposes of the Act. Section 12(d)(1)(J) of the Act provides that the
Commission may exempt any person, security, or transaction, or any
class of persons, securities or transactions, from any provision of
section 12(d)(1) if the exemption is consistent with the public
interest and the protection of investors. Applicants submit that for
the reasons stated in the Reference Order the requested relief meets
the exemptive standards under sections 6(c), 17(b) and 12(d)(1)(J) of
the Act.
For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management,
pursuant to delegated authority.
Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-24468 Filed 11-8-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
