12. (1) A small business development corporation shall not invest or maintain an investment in a security issued by a corporation which is or was at any time a small business if, (a) any of the shares of such corporation are held by, (i) a major shareholder or an affiliated corporation or an associate thereof of the small business development corporation, (ii) an officer or director or an associate thereof of a small business development corporation that proposes to invest or has invested in such corporation or an officer or director or an associate thereof of a major shareholder of such small business development corporation, or (iii) a voting trust where the trust relates to the shares of the small business development corporation; or (b) as a result of the investment, more than 49 per cent of the issued and outstanding equity shares of the corporation would be held by small business development corporations, their shareholders and associates of their shareholders; or (c) such corporation or an associate or affiliated corporation of such corporation or a shareholder of such corporation or an associate or affiliated corporation of such shareholder, directly or indirectly provides, by means of a loan, guarantee, the provision of security or otherwise, any financial assistance for the purpose of, or in connection with the purchase of shares of the small business development corporation; or (d) as a result of the investment, the aggregate of, (i) the issue price of all outstanding shares, and (ii) the balance of all outstanding debt obligations, of the corporation and its affiliates held by small business development corporations would exceed $2,500,000; or (e) the security issued to the small business development corporation entitled the holder thereof to claim a credit against income tax payable under the Income Tax Act (Canada) with respect to the purchase of such security. Restriction on investment (2) Unless a small business development corporation is widely held, it shall not invest in a small business if the proceeds of that investment are used or are intended to be used, in whole or in part, to finance the purchase or sale of goods or services provided to such small business by or through any shareholder of the small business development corporation or any associate or affiliated corporation of such shareholder. Interpretation (3) For the purposes of this section, (a) “major shareholder” means a person who holds, (i) 20 per cent where the small business development corporation is a Northern and Eastern small business development corporation, or (ii) 10 per cent where the small business development corporation is not a Northern and Eastern small business development corporation, or more of the voting rights attached to all equity shares of the small business development corporation from time to time outstanding; (b) a small business development corporation is widely held if the corporation has, (i) five or more shareholders, each holding not more than 20 per cent of the issued and outstanding shares of the corporation, where the small business development corporation is a Northern and Eastern small business development corporation, or (ii) ten or more shareholders, each holding not more than 10 per cent of the issued and outstanding equity shares of the corporation, where the small business development corporation is not a Northern and Eastern small business development corporation, and none of the shareholders is an associate or affiliated corporation; and (c) where the small business development corporation is a Northern and Eastern small business development corporation, “associate” means, in addition to the definitions set out in clauses (b) to (h) of the definition of “associate” in subsection 1 (1), any corporation of which such person beneficially owns directly or indirectly equity shares carrying more than 20 per cent of the voting rights attached to all equity shares of the corporation for the time being outstanding.  R.S.O. 1990, c. S.12, s. 12.