Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985 — 9.1
9.1 (1) The following definitions apply in this section. acceptable rating means the rating, given by a credit rating agency to an issuer at the time of the issuance or renewal of a letter of credit, that is at least equal to one of the following ratings: (a) A, from Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited; (b) A, from Fitch Ratings; (c) A2, from Moody’s Investors Service; and (d) A, from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. ( note acceptable ) ATB means Alberta Treasury Branches established under the Alberta Treasury Branches Act of the Province of Alberta. ( ATB ) bank means a bank or authorized foreign bank, as defined in section 2 of the Bank Act . ( banque ) cooperative credit society means a cooperative credit society to which the Cooperative Credit Associations Act applies or a cooperative credit society that is incorporated and regulated by or under an Act of the legislature of a province. ( coopérative de crédit ) default means the occurrence of one of the following: (a) the written notification to the Superintendent that the administrator intends to terminate or wind up the whole of the pension plan under subsection 29(5) of the Act; (b) the amendment of the plan, resolution by the employer or coming into force of any other measure that effects the termination of the whole of the plan; (c) the Superintendent’s declaration under subsection 29(2) or (2.1) of the Act that terminates the whole of the plan; (d) the bankruptcy of the employer or the filing of an application or petition by or against the employer under the Winding-up and Restructuring Act ; (e) the non-renewal of a letter of credit for its full face value unless (i) it has been replaced by another letter of credit for the same face value on or before the expiry of the letter of credit, (ii) an amount equal to the face value of the letter of credit has been remitted to the pension fund on or before the expiry of the letter of credit, or (iii) the face value of the letter of credit has been reduced in accordance with subsection (2), (3) or (4); and (f) the failure by an employer to comply with a direction issued by the Superintendent under section 11 of the Act with respect to the face value a letter of credit referred to in subsection 9(13.1). ( défaut ) issuer means a bank, a cooperative credit society or an ATB, that has an acceptable rating by two credit rating agencies, is not an employer or affiliated with an employer within the meaning of subsection 2(2) of the Canada Business Corporations Act and is a member of the Canadian Payment Association. ( émetteur ) (2) If the aggregate face value of the letters of credit held for the benefit of the plan exceeds 15% of the solvency liabilities of the plan as determined at the valuation date and if, based on the most recent actuarial report, (a) the average solvency ratio and the solvency ratio of the plan are 1.0 or more, the aggregate face value of the letters of credit may be reduced by the lesser of (i) the amount by which the aggregate face value of the letters of credit exceeds 15% of the solvency liabilities of the plan as determined at the valuation date, and (ii) the lesser of the solvency excess and the excess of the solvency assets over the solvency liabilities; and (b) either the average solvency ratio or the solvency ratio of the plan is less than 1.0, the aggregate face value of the letters of credit may be reduced by the amount of the excess referred to in subparagraph (a)(i) to the extent of the difference between (i) the amount of the solvency special payment for the plan year following the valuation date, and (ii) the amount of the solvency special payment that does not take into consideration the maximum referred to in the description of B of the definition solvency assets in subsection 2(1) for the plan year following the valuation date. (3) An employer may reduce the face value of a letter of credit after making a payment to the pension fund of the amount of the reduction. (4) The face value of