News Release

TORONTO, Ontario – February 27, 2003 – A national database and real-time dissemination system was launched today by Market Regulation Services Inc. (RS) to protect investors from unintentional violations of issuer cease trade orders (CTOs).

The database contains the names of all Canadian companies whose shares have been cease-traded, including companies traded on the TSX and TSX Venture Exchanges, as well as Canadian companies traded in other jurisdictions.

The repository was developed by RS in collaboration with the dealer community and provincial securities commissions and funded by the British Columbia Securities Commission. It will help solve the ongoing problem of timely CTO notification to investment dealers who previously had to search databases of each provincial securities commission to ensure they were not violating CTOs. The CTO database is also the only centralized source for CTOs of non-Canadian-exchange traded companies.

A CTO is issued against a company for failing to meet disclosure requirements, such as the filing of a quarterly financial statement, or as a result of an enforcement action that involves an investigation of wrongdoing.

“This new system is a cost-effective and extremely efficient service designed specifically to protect investors and meet the needs of investment dealers,” said Tom Atkinson, President & CEO of RS. “The database is a good example of how RS uses its national reach and cooperates with other regulators to strengthen the integrity of the markets - while lowering costs for the industry. It fits well with our philosophy of providing solutions that don’t get bogged down by jurisdictional concerns.”

The database is publicly accessible through RS’s website www.regulationservices.com. Investment dealers register with RS to receive real-time email notification of issuer CTOs and anyone can search the library within the site for historical CTO information. The proactive notification system will greatly diminish the risk of not complying with issuer CTOs, reducing exposure to disciplinary action by the securities commissions. More than 50 registered investment dealers in Canada have registered for the email notification system and RS expects all dealers to be registered by April 1.

RS is the independent national market regulation services provider for Canadian equity markets, including the TSX and TSX Venture Exchanges. It has been recognized by the Securities Commissions of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec to regulate the trading of securities.