News Release

Toronto - The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today announced that it has issued amendments to National Instrument 23-103 Electronic Trading (NI 23-103), which will establish a consistent framework for the offer and use of direct electronic access (DEA) and address the financial and regulatory risks associated with DEA. NI 23-103 requires appropriate controls to ensure the integrity of dealers that offer DEA and the market as a whole. 

The CSA first published NI 23-103 for comment in April 2011, proposing requirements to address the risks to Canadian markets related to the speed and automation of electronic trading, including the risks related to DEA.  NI 23-103 was finalized in June 2012 without the DEA-related provisions to allow the CSA sufficient time to align these requirements with amendments to the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada’s (IIROC) Universal Market Integrity Rules, which are also being published today. 

“As technology advances and trading systems become increasingly complex, the regulation of direct electronic access has become ever more critical to the overall regulation of electronic trading,” said Bill Rice, Chair of the CSA and Chair and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission. “While today’s announcement brings the amendments related to direct electronic access to a close, the CSA will continue to monitor technological advances and make the changes necessary to continue to protect the market and marketplace participants in this regard.”

The amendments were developed following consultations with marketplaces, marketplace participants and service vendors, and are consistent with international approaches to regulating direct electronic trading. The CSA acknowledges and thanks IIROC staff for their work on this initiative.

A copy of NI 23-103 and its related Companion Policy are available on the websites of various CSA members. Subject to ministerial approval, the amendments will come into force on March 1, 2014 and will change the title of NI 23-103 to Electronic Trading and Direct Electronic Access to Marketplaces

The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada’s provinces and territories, coordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.

For more information:

Carolyn Shaw-Rimmington                 Mark Dickey  

Ontario Securities Commission                       Alberta Securities Commission

416-593-2361                                                  403-297-4481                                     

Sylvain Théberge                                            Richard Gilhooley

Autorité des marchés financiers                      British Columbia Securities Commission

514-940-2176                                                  604-899-6713 

Ainsley Cunningham                                      Wendy Connors-Beckett

The Manitoba Securities Commission            New Brunswick Securities Commission

204-945-4733                                                  506-643-7745 

Tanya Wiltshire                                               Daniela Machuca       

Nova Scotia Securities Commission               Financial and Consumer Affairs

902-424-8586                                                  Authority of Saskatchewan   

                                                                        306-798-4160

Janice Callbeck                                               Doug Connolly                      

The Office of the Superintendent of              Financial Services Regulation Division of Securities, P.E.I.                                      Newfoundland and Labrador

902-368-6288                                                  709-729-2594

Rhonda Horte                                                 Louis Arki

Office of the Yukon Superintendent              Nunavut Securities Office

of Securities                                                    867-975-6587

867-667-5466                                                 

Donn MacDougall                                                     

Northwest Territories Securities Office                                                         

867-920-8984