News Release

Released: 07/31/01 Contact: Andrew Poon
NR 01-33 (604) 899-6880 or
(BC only) 1-800-373-6393

Vancouver - The British Columbia and Alberta securities commissions have approved the acquisition of the Canadian Venture Exchange Inc. (CDNX) by the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE).

The transaction, whereby CDNX will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the TSE and a for-profit corporation, is scheduled to close on July 31, 2001. In connection with the approvals, the Alberta Securities Commission and BC Securities Commission imposed conditions on CDNX and obtained commitments from its new owner, the TSE.

“These conditions and commitments are intended to ensure that CDNX continues to foster a vibrant junior capital market for investors and issuers in Alberta and British Columbia,” said BCSC Chair Doug Hyndman.

“Because CDNX will be controlled by the TSE, we thought it was also important to receive assurances from the TSE about the continued operations of CDNX and to obtain information about the on-going financial condition and ownership of the TSE,” added ASC Chair Stephen Sibold.

Key conditions and commitments include:

• CDNX cannot make any significant changes to the services and functions currently provided by CDNX through its Vancouver and Calgary offices without the prior approval of the ASC and BCSC;
  
• The CDNX/TSE board will have significant representation (i.e., 25%) from persons with expertise in or association with the Canadian public venture capital market;
  
• The TSE will have an advisory board comprised of individuals with expertise in the Canadian public venture capital market that will be responsible for advising and making recommendations to the TSE board regarding that market;
  
• The TSE will allocate sufficient financial and other resources to CDNX to ensure that CDNX can carry out its functions as an exchange; and
  
• The TSE cannot discontinue or sell the operations of CDNX without providing significant advance notice to the ASC and BCSC.

The Alberta Securities Commission is the industry funded regulatory agency responsible for administering the Alberta Securities Act. Its mission is to foster a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and, together with the other members of the Canadian Securities Administrators, develop and operate the Canadian Securities Regulatory System.

The BC Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities and exchange contracts within British Columbia.

Copies of the notices can be viewed in the documents database of the BCSC’s website www.bcsc.bc.ca and the ASC's website www.albertasecurities.com.