MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Aug. 20, 2015) -
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
Since September 22, 2014, British Controlled Oilfields Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BCO) as an investment fund has become subject to the requirements of National Instrument 81-102-Investment Funds ("81-102") including the requirement to engage a Canadian financial institution as custodian of its assets including its securities portfolio.
Over the past several months, BCO's management has been diligently taking steps to engage an 81-102 compliant custodian, however, as BCO's assets are comprised of securities of foreign issuers and its portfolio is relatively small in size, no suitable custodian has yet been secured.
In a letter dated June 5, 2015, BCO's current custodian, Banque Pictet & Cie SA ("Pictet"), a Swiss bank based in Geneva, informed BCO that it was terminating its custodian agreement with BCO and that if no instructions to transfer the assets to a new custodian were received by July 1, 2015, Pictet would realise the assets and hold the cash proceeds at BCO's disposal. BCO's management negotiated with Pictet for an extension of the July 1 deadline to August 12, 2015. On July 26, 2015, BCO notified Pictet in writing that a liquidation of the portfolio was beyond the scope of its authority under the custodian agreement and Pictet would be liable for the consequences of any such liquidation. Nonetheless, BCO continued to engage in discussions with Pictet to arrive at an appropriate process for the transfer of the portfolio to BCO in order to accommodate Pictet's desire to no longer act as custodian and to enable BCO to continue to its efforts to find a replacement custodian. Pictet did not respond to BCO's transfer proposal.
BCO was unable to secure a replacement custodian for Pictet before the new August 12 deadline. On Friday, August 14, 2015, BCO received notice from Pictet that it was proceeding to liquidate the portfolio. On Monday, August 17, 2015 BCO's management obtained an injunction against Pictet through a court in Geneva to prevent the liquidation of the assets but not before Pictet had initiated the liquidation of BCO's securities portfolio through the open market. As of today, approximately 93.7% of BCO's assets are cash. On August 19, 2015, Veritas Asset Management AG. of Zurich, Switzerland, BCO's portfolio manager, resigned.
BCO continues to seek a replacement custodian and a replacement portfolio manager. All strategic options for BCO are and will be examined by BCO's board of directors and management.
Contact Information:
(514) 871-9571