free: 1-855-943-8099). The Trustee’s office is located at 155 Wellington Street West, Street Level, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 3L3. The custodian for the Trust’s physical silver bullion, the Mint, has its office located at 320 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0G8, and the custodian for the Trust’s assets other than physical silver bullion, RBC Investor Services, has its office located at 155 Wellington Street West, Street Level, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 3L3.
Recent Developments
On June 24, 2016, the Trust entered into a Controlled Equity OfferingSM sales agreement (the “initial sales agreement”) with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. (“CF&Co”) whereby the Trust may, in its sole discretion and subject to its operating and investment restrictions, offer and sell trust units through an “at-the-market offering” program. On January 29, 2020, the Trust, Manager, CF&Co and Virtu Americas LLC (“Virtu”) entered into an amendment agreement to the initial sales agreement (the “second sales agreement”) pursuant to which, among other things, Virtu became a sales agent of trust units. On October 21, 2020, the Trust, the Manager, CF&Co, Virtu and Virtu ITG Canada Corp. (“Virtu Canada”) entered into an amended and restated sales agreement (together with the initial sales agreement and the second sales agreement referred to as the “sales agreement”) pursuant to which, among other things, Virtu Canada became a sales agent of trust units subject to the terms and conditions of the sales agreement.
On June 4, 2018, the Manager, for and on behalf of the Trust, entered into a precious metal storage and custody agreement with the Mint (the “Silver Storage Agreement”), to replace the former version thereof, setting out the terms and conditions pursuant to which the Mint agrees to store the Trust’s physical silver bullion at the premises of the Mint and/or any other safe storage facility located in Canada or abroad used by the Mint, including the facility of a sub-custodian. The fees are currently: (a) storage fees per month — $1.60 per bar; (b) deposit fees — $5.00 per bar; (c) redemption fees — at the Mint’s discretion, up to a maximum of 2% of the value of the physical silver bullion as calculated by the Mint using the price of silver as published by the London Bullion Market Association (the “LBMA”) on the day of redemption, plus a $250.00 administrative fee; and (d) withdrawal and transfer fees — $5.00 per bar, plus a $50.00 administrative fee.
Effective March 20, 2020, after extensive review of other existing policies and procedures (the “Other Existing Policies”), the Manager removed a policy that prohibited any entity or account (a) that is managed or (b) for whom investment decisions are made, directly or indirectly, by a person that is involved in the decision-making process of, or has non-public information about, follow-on offerings of the Trust from investing in the Trust. The policy also prohibited any such decision-making person from investing in the Trust for that decision-making person’s benefit, directly or indirectly. The policy was removed after extensive discussions with the applicable regulatory entity after the Manager concluded that the Other Existing Policies made the removed policy redundant and that the Other Existing Policies afford the same protections that the removed policy was intended to provide.
On November 13, 2020, the Manager, on behalf of the Trust, amended the amended and restated trust agreement, dated February 27, 2015, to reflect a change related to the timing of delivery of physical bullion in connection with redemptions to avoid increased costs and decrease logistical demands.
Business of the Trust
Investment Objectives of the Trust
The Trust was created to invest and hold substantially all of its assets in physical silver bullion. Many investors are unwilling to invest directly in physical silver bullion due to inconveniences such as transaction, handling, storage, insurance and other costs that are typical of a direct investment in physical silver bullion. The Trust seeks to provide a secure, convenient and exchange-traded investment alternative for investors interested in holding physical silver bullion without the inconvenience that is typical of a direct investment in physical silver bullion. The Trust invests primarily in long-term holdings of unencumbered, fully allocated, physical silver bullion and will not speculate with regard to short-term changes in silver prices. The Trust does not invest in silver certificates or other financial instruments that represent silver or that may be exchanged for silver. The Trust has only purchased and expects only to own “London Good Delivery” bars as defined by the LBMA, with each bar purchased being verified against the LBMA source. The Trust does not anticipate making regular cash distributions to unitholders. The Trust holds no assets that are subject to special