For these purposes:
“Administrative Action” means any judicial decision, administrative pronouncement, published or private ruling, regulatory procedure, rule, notice, announcement, assessment or reassessment (including without limitation any notice or announcement of intent to adopt or issue such decision, pronouncement, ruling, procedure, rule, notice, announcement, assessment or reassessment).
“Tax Event” means Bell Canada has received an opinion of independent counsel of a nationally recognized law firm in Canada or the United States experienced in such matters (who may be counsel to Bell Canada) to the effect that, as a result of:
(a) any amendment to, clarification of or change (including without limitation any announced prospective change) in the laws, or any regulations thereunder, or any application or interpretation thereof, of Canada or the United States, or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein, affecting taxation;
(b) any Administrative Action; or
(c) any amendment to, clarification of or change (including any announced prospective change) in the official position with respect to or the interpretation of any Administrative Action or any interpretation or pronouncement that provides for a position with respect to such Administrative Action that differs from the theretofore generally accepted position,
in each case, by any legislative body, court, governmental authority or agency, regulatory body or taxing authority, irrespective of the manner in which such amendment, clarification, change, Administrative Action, interpretation or pronouncement is made known, which amendment, clarification, change or Administrative Action is effective or which interpretation, pronouncement or Administrative Action is announced on or after the date of the issue of the Offered Notes, there is more than an insubstantial risk (assuming any proposed or announced amendment, clarification, change, interpretation, pronouncement or Administrative Action is effective and applicable) that Bell Canada (i) is, or may be, subject to more than a de minimis amount of additional taxes, duties or other governmental charges or civil liabilities because the treatment of any of its items of income, taxable income, expense, deduction of expense, taxable capital or taxable paid-up capital with respect to the Offered Notes (including without limitation the treatment by Bell Canada of interest on the Offered Notes and the deductibility of such interest), as or as would be reflected in any tax return or form filed, to be filed, or otherwise could have been filed, will not be respected by a taxing authority or (ii) is, or may be, obligated to pay, on the next Interest Payment Date for the Offered Notes of that series, Additional Amounts (as defined below) with respect to any Offered Notes of that series as described under “Additional Amounts” below.
For greater clarity, if there is a Tax Event on or after the date that is 90 days prior to a First Reset Date with respect to a series of Offered Notes, Bell Canada may elect an optional redemption of such series of Offered Notes, as described under “Optional Redemption” above, rather than a redemption by way of the Tax Event optional redemption right.
Redemption on Rating Event
At any time on or within 90 days following the occurrence of a Rating Event, Bell Canada may, at its option, by giving not less than 10 days’ nor more than 60 days’ prior notice to the holders of the applicable series of Offered Notes, redeem all (but not less than all) of either or both series of Offered Notes at a redemption price equal to 102% of the principal amount thereof, together with accrued and unpaid interest (including deferred interest, as applicable) to, but excluding, the date fixed for redemption.
For these purposes, a “Rating Event” shall be deemed to occur if any Rating Agency (as defined below), following the initial rating of the Offered Notes by such Rating Agency, amends, clarifies or changes the criteria it uses to assign equity credit to securities such as the Offered Notes, which amendment, clarification or change results in (a) the shortening of the length of time the Offered Notes are assigned a particular level of equity credit by that Rating Agency as compared to the length of time the Offered Notes would have been assigned that level of equity credit by that Rating Agency or its predecessor on the initial rating of the Offered Notes by such Rating Agency; or (b) the lowering of the equity credit (including up to a lesser amount) assigned to the Offered Notes by that Rating Agency compared to the equity credit assigned by that Rating Agency or its predecessor on the initial rating of the Offered Notes by such Rating Agency.
For these purposes, “Rating Agencies” means, with respect to a series of Offered Notes, each of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global Inc. (“S&P”) and DBRS Limited (“DBRS”) as long as, in each case, it has not ceased to rate such Offered Notes or failed to make a rating of such Offered Notes publicly available for reasons outside of Bell Canada’s control; provided that if one or more of Moody’s, S&P or DBRS ceases to rate such Offered Notes or fails to make a rating of such Offered Notes publicly available for reasons outside of Bell Canada’s control, Bell Canada may select any other “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” within the meaning of Section 3(a)(62) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as a replacement agency for such one or more of them, as the case may be.
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