NIN 99/24 - Proposed National Instrument 21-101, Forms 21-101F1, 21-101F2, 21-101F3 and 21-101F4, Companion Policy 21-101CP, National Instrument 23-101, Companion Policy 23-101CP and Discussion Paper Entitled "Consolidation Plan for a Consolidated Canadian Market" Marketplace Operation and Trading Rules [NIN - Rescinded]

Introduction

The Commission, together with other members of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("CSA"), is publishing for comment proposed National Instrument 21-101 Marketplace Operation ("NI 21-101"), Forms 21-101F1, 21-101F2, 21-101F3 and 21-101F4 (the "Forms"), Companion Policy 21-101CP, proposed National Instrument 23-101 Trading Rules ("NI 23-101"), Companion Policy 23-101CP and a Discussion paper entitled "Consolidation Plan for a Consolidated Canadian Market" (the "Consolidation Plan"). The CSA are also publishing a background paper, attached as Appendix "A" to this Notice, entitled "Regulation of Alternative Trading Systems in Canada" (the "Background Paper") presenting the history and debate on the issues concerning the operation of alternative trading systems ("ATSs") in Canada.

The documents currently being published for comment have been prepared by a working committee of the staff of the members of the CSA ("CSA Staff"). The documents have been formally approved by some, but not all, commissions. In light of the desire to publish the ATS proposal, the documents are being published now for public comment. It is expected that formal approval by all commissions will be forthcoming.

The Securities Amendment Act, 1999 ("Bill 64"), when proclaimed in force, gives the Commission the power to order that a person carrying on business as a quotation and trade reporting system is an exchange for the purpose of the Securities Act.¹

¹ See NIN#99/17 and s. 6 of Bill 64, which adds new section 25.1 to the Securities Act.

As a result, all provisions in the Securities Act that apply to all exchanges will also apply to quotation and trade reporting systems that are recognized as exchanges.

The proposed National Instruments, Forms and Companion Policies are initiatives of the CSA. The proposed National Instruments are proposed to be adopted as rules in each of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Ontario, as a Commission regulation in Saskatchewan and as a policy in each of the other jurisdictions represented by the CSA. The proposed Companion Policies are proposed to be implemented as policies in each of the jurisdictions represented by the CSA.

Terms used in the proposed Companion Polices that are defined or interpreted in the proposed National Instruments or a definition instrument in force in the jurisdiction and not otherwise defined in the proposed Companion Policies should be read in accordance with the proposed National Instruments or that definition instrument, unless the context otherwise requires. The National Instruments, Forms and Companion Policies contain footnotes that are not part of the proposed National Instruments, Forms or Companion Policies, which have been included to provide background and explanation.

A.NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 21-101 : MARKETPLACE OPERATION

Scope of the Instrument, Forms and Companion Policy

NI 21-101 and Companion Policy 21-101CP regulate all marketplaces operating within the jurisdictions of the CSA. Marketplaces include recognized exchanges, recognized quotation and trade reporting systems and ATSs. A marketplace participant is defined to mean a member of an exchange, a user of a quotation and trade reporting system or a subscriber of an ATS. NI 21-101 and Companion Policy 21-101CP provide guidelines for establishing which types of marketplaces are considered to be exchanges and must be recognized as exchanges and which types of marketplaces may be considered as ATSs.

NI 21-101 sets forth a number of requirements for exchanges and quotation and trade reporting systems, such as reporting and record keeping. These requirements exist currently in some jurisdictions. NI 21-101 further specifies several new requirements including access and systems capacity requirements that reflect the increased importance of technology for these markets, and transparency and market integration requirements. NI 21-101 specifies which of these requirements will also apply to ATSs. The Forms are required to be filed by marketplaces when commencing to carry on business and must be filed by an ATS to report on certain activities and when ceasing to carry on business.

Purpose of the Instrument and Policy

NI 21-101 is intended to provide an appropriate regulatory framework within which traditional markets, such as exchanges, and new markets, such as ATSs, can operate. Companion Policy 21-101CP sets out guidelines regarding the application of NI 21-101.

Discussion of Instrument and Policy

During the last ten years there have been numerous discussions regarding whether electronic trading systems should be permitted to operate in Canada and what their effect would be on traditionally recognized and regulated markets².

² See Background Paper entitled "Regulation of Alternative Trading Systems in Canada" attached to this notice which presents a brief history of the events regarding ATSs and summarizes the key issues. See also: Request for Comments and Notice of Forum to Discuss "NETS" and Market Fragmentation (NIN#98/14) and Summary of comments received in response to the Request for Comments concerning Non-SRO Electronic Trading Systems and Market Fragmentation (1998), 21 OSCB 1443.

The debate centered on the causes and effects of fragmentation as well as on how to regulate these new types of entities. At the current time, exchanges, dealers and investors acknowledge that various types of electronic trading systems have developed in response to investor demand for different services and fee structures than are now provided by exchanges.

NI 21-101 and Companion Policy 21-101CP focus on how to regulate ATSs and how to minimize any negative effects of fragmentation through consolidation of information and order integration. Discussion of the relevant parts of NI 21-101 and Companion Policy 21-101CP will be divided into the following topics:

(1) the concepts of marketplace and ATS;
(2) recognition of exchanges and quotation and trade reporting systems;
(3) regulatory choices for ATSs;
(4) regulatory requirements for ATSs that choose not to be an exchange or member of an exchange;
(5) information consolidation and market integration requirements for marketplaces;
(6) recordkeeping requirements and systems' capacity and integrity requirements; and
(7) carrying on business as an ATS within a jurisdiction.

1.The Concepts of Marketplace and Alternative Trading System

Part 1 of NI 21-101 sets out a definition of "marketplace". A marketplace is defined as an exchange, a quotation and trade reporting system and any other person or company that (a) constitutes, maintains or provides a market or facilities for bringing together purchasers and sellers of securities, (b) brings together the orders for securities of multiple buyers and sellers, and (c) uses established, non-discretionary methods under which the orders interact with each other and the buyers and sellers entering the orders agree to the terms of a trade. Part 2 of Companion Policy 21-101CP provides further explanation of this concept.

In developing the appropriate regulatory framework for ATSs within the Canadian capital markets, the CSA have determined what is an ATS, how it differs from a traditional exchange, and which characteristics should require an ATS to be regulated as a recognized exchange. Historically, exchanges have brought together buyers' and sellers' orders for securities. As world markets have evolved, so have exchanges. They do not all perform the same functions or even have the same types of governance structures as they have had in the past. ATSs also provide a marketplace for buyers' and sellers' orders.

As set out above, NI 21-101 provides a broad definition of "marketplace" that includes both exchanges and ATSs. The definition of ATS then identifies certain characteristics that the CSA believe require an entity to be regulated as an exchange. The characteristics are: providing a listing function, carrying out market regulation, disciplining subscribers or providing a guarantee of liquidity through intermediaries such as professional market makers. Part 3 of Companion Policy 21-101CP states that if a marketplace lists securities, provides guaranteed liquidity, disciplines marketplace participants or carries out market regulation, then it would have to apply for recognition as an exchange. Subsection 6.4 (1) of NI 21-101 requires an ATS to notify the appropriate member of the CSA before it begins to do any of these functions. The ATS would then be required to apply for recognition as an exchange.

Traditional dealer activity is excluded from the concept of marketplace (and is therefore neither a characteristic of an exchange or an ATS) because such activity is not characterized as bringing together orders of multiple buyers and sellers through non-discretionary methods of order execution. Using internal systems to trade and manage orders does not cause a dealer to be an ATS or marketplace, if the dealer exercises discretion or judgement over customer orders. An example of systems that do not use non-discretionary methods are traditional block trading desks which retain discretion and frequently commit capital to satisfy customer needs. Subsection 2.1 (5) of Companion Policy 21-101CP identifies additional circumstances that are not considered to qualify a system as a marketplace: an issuer selling its own securities (one seller and multiple buyers), order routing systems and bulletin boards.

Subsection 6.5(1) of NI 21-101 describes another factor that could cause the members of the CSA to determine that a marketplace should be recognized as an exchange. If the volume of trading activity in a type of security reaches 40 percent of the average daily dollar value of the trading volume in that type of security traded in Canada, then by virtue of the level of trading on the system, and the importance of ensuring that access is provided to all investors, the CSA will consider whether the system should be considered to be an exchange and therefore regulated as an exchange. The CSA are of the view that if a trading system reaches the threshold, it is in a position to be the dominant market in some important segment of the securities market. This threshold is triggered based on any three of the ATSs previous four calendar quarters. The ATS is required to notify the appropriate member of the CSA when it reaches the threshold.

Question 1: Is 40 percent of the average daily dollar value of the trading volume in any type of security traded in Canada an appropriate threshold or should it be lower (for example, 10 percent or 20 percent)?

There is another volume threshold set out in paragraph 6.5(1)(b) of NI 21-101. If the volume of trading activity reaches 50 percent of the average daily dollar value of the trading volume in any security and 5 percent of the average daily dollar value of the trading volume in any type of security traded in Canada, then the CSA will consider whether the system should be considered to be an exchange and therefore regulated as an exchange. The CSA are of the view that if a trading system reaches this threshold, it is in a position to be a dominant market by achieving substantial activity in a specific issue and the CSA will consider whether the system should be regulated as an exchange. As set out above, the ATS is required to notify the appropriate member of the CSA when it reaches the threshold for any three of the previous four calendar quarters. The CSA are considering whether this requirement is appropriate and is specifically requesting comment on whether to retain the requirement.

Question 2: Should the CSA retain the second volume threshold set out in paragraph 6.5(1)(b) of NI 21-101 relating to 50 percent of the average daily dollar value of the trading volume in any security and 5 percent of the average daily dollar value of the trading volume in any type of security trading in Canada?

The CSA are requiring an ATS to notify the appropriate member of the CSA when the volume thresholds set out above are reached. The volume thresholds are determined based on trading both inside and outside Canada. The CSA are requesting comment on the feasibility of an ATS to calculate the threshold specifically with respect to trading on marketplaces outside Canada.

Question 3 : Is it feasible to require ATSs to calculate the volume threshold when dealing with foreign markets?

2.Recognition of Exchanges and Quotation and Trade Reporting Systems

Part 5 of NI 21-101 discusses factors that a jurisdiction would review as part of the recognition process. Recognized exchanges today have regulatory responsibilities and requirements imposed upon them by the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. For the most part, the requirements set out in Part 5 are the standards that the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, as well as securities regulators outside of Canada, have applied and are currently applying to recognized markets. These standards, however, are not set out in securities legislation. In the course of discussions regarding ATSs, it was suggested that, if ATSs are given the ability to be regulated as exchanges, then the standards for being recognized as an exchange and requirements applicable to exchanges should be made clear. Part 5 of NI 21-101 contains requirements applicable to recognized exchanges and recognized quotation and trade reporting systems. Parts 7-11 of NI 21-101 provide some new requirements which will be applicable to all marketplaces. See discussion below.

3.Regulatory Choices for ATSs

The definition of ATS provides that an ATS is not a recognized quotation and trading system or exchange. Therefore, if it chooses to be recognized as an exchange, it is not an ATS. Section 2.1 of NI 21-101 provides that an ATS is excluded from NI 21-101 if it is a member of a recognized exchange. Section 6.1 of NI 21-101 establishes the regulatory model for ATSs that are not recognized as an exchange or a quotation and trade reporting system and are not members of a recognized exchange. Thus, ATSs can choose to be recognized as an exchange, become a member of an exchange and be regulated in the same manner as any other exchange member, or become registered as a dealer which is a member of a "self-regulatory entity" (a term defined in section 1 of NI 21-101). At this time, the Investment Dealers Association of Canada (the "IDA") is the only body that would come within the definition of a self-regulatory entity. If the ATS chooses to be a member of the IDA, it will be subject to the additional requirements applicable to ATSs (set out in Part 6 of NI 21-101) and marketplaces (set out in Parts 7-11 of NI 21-101).

Unless an ATS is recognized as an exchange, an ATS will not be subject to the requirements set out in Parts 3, 4 and 5 of NI 21-101 that are only applicable to recognized exchanges or recognized quotation and trade reporting systems. This is because the definition of "ATS" excludes recognized exchanges and recognized quotation and trade reporting systems.

4.Regulatory requirements for ATSs that choose not to be an exchange or member of an exchange

ATSs will be limited to trading "ATS securities". Part 1 of NI 21-101 defines an "ATS security" as securities of reporting issuers, a derivative of such securities, government debt, or securities listed or quoted on markets outside of Canada that are set out in an Appendix to NI 21-101. When all jurisdictions have rulemaking or regulation making authority for commodity futures products, the CSA expect to extend the definition of ATS security to include commodity futures contracts traded on an exchange. The CSA are requesting comment on whether securities of a reporting issuer traded on an ATS should be limited to those securities that are listed on a recognized exchange. This would prohibit establishing an ATS for trading securities of reporting issuers that are quoted or reported on the Canadian Dealing Network.

Question 4: Should trading of securities of reporting issuers on an ATS be limited to securities that are listed on a recognized exchange?

The CSA are specifically requesting comment on which foreign markets should be included in the Appendix to NI 21-101.

Question 5: Which foreign markets should be included in the Appendix to NI 21-101?

Part 6 of NI 21-101 sets out requirements that are applicable to ATSs that are not recognized as exchanges or are not members of an exchange. Section 6.1 states that the ATS must be registered as a dealer and be a member of a self-regulatory entity which does member regulation and is not an exchange. Sections 6.2 and 6.3 set out the initial reporting requirements, ongoing reporting requirements and the reporting requirements upon ceasing operation of an ATS. In addition, subsection 6.4(1) requires an ATS to give notice to the appropriate member of the CSA if it begins to do any of the functions that the CSA generally consider to be functions of an exchange.

Section 6.6 prohibits a person or company that operates an ATS from principal trading. The CSA were concerned that without such prohibition, dealers with large volumes of trading might consider withdrawing from exchanges and operating as ATSs. The CSA have decided to impose this restriction after becoming aware that most systems operating in the United States ("U.S.") do so only on an agency basis. The CSA believe that this requirement will help maintain a level playing field. The CSA specifically request comment on whether there should be a de minimis exemption for principal trading in order to encourage dealers to invest in ATSs. A restriction based upon the total volume of trading (e.g., 10 percent of the ATS' trading volume could be from principal trading of a participant dealer) or based upon the percentage of holdings in an ATS (e.g., 10 percent ownership in an ATS) could be used

Question 6: Should there be a de minimis exemption for principal trading in order to encourage dealers to invest in ATSs?

5.Information consolidation and market integration requirements for marketplaces

In order to minimize any negative impact of having different marketplaces trade the same security, Part 7 of NI 21-101 requires information transparency and Part 8 of NI 21-101 requires market integration. The purpose of the information transparency and market integration requirements is to preserve the benefits of a centralized market by taking advantage of technology. The goal is to provide the mechanisms for any investor to access the best priced order in Canada. This is described in more detail in the Consolidation Plan.

Part 7 of NI 21-101 deals with information transparency requirements. Both pre-trade information (section 7.1) and post-trade information (section 7.2) must be provided to the "data consolidator" in real-time. As described in the Consolidation Plan, the data consolidator will be the person or company chosen by the CSA to consolidate pre-trade and post-trade information. Part C of this Notice provides further details on how the CSA propose to choose the data consolidator and how it plans on implementing the establishment of information consolidation.

Section 7.1 requires any marketplace (recognized exchanges, recognized quotation and trade reporting systems, and ATSs) that displays orders to provide to the data consolidator information on such orders in the form of total disclosed volume at each of the five best price levels for each security traded. Disclosed volume refers to the portion of an order that is displayed in the marketplace. Volumes that are not disclosed or that are "reserve" or hidden volumes are not required to be displayed. Section 7.2 requires the marketplace to provide information on all trades executed (whether or not the orders had been disclosed) including the volume, symbol, price, and time of the trade.

An "order" is defined in Part 1 of NI 21-101 as a firm indication of a willingness to buy or sell a security. Part 6 of Companion Policy 21-101CP provides additional guidance regarding what is an "order" for purposes of NI 21-101. In order for parties to determine if the displayed price is in fact the best price, after taking into consideration the transaction fees, Part 9 of NI 21-101 requires that if the marketplace's transaction fee is greater than $0.005 per security purchased or sold, then the transaction fee must be included in the price displayed by the data consolidator.

Part 8 of NI 21-101 requires a marketplace to provide access for execution to any orders the marketplace has displayed through the data consolidator. The purpose of requiring market integration is so that any buyer or seller in a marketplace will have the right and the ability to access the best price offered or bid in any other marketplace, regardless of whether the buyer or seller is a marketplace participant in that system or not. The order will be executed in accordance with the execution rules (algorithms) of the marketplace receiving the order (i.e., the marketplace where the passive order is located). See subsection 8.1(2) of NI 21-101 and section 11.1 of Companion Policy 21-101CP for further explanation. Subsection 8.1(3) of NI 21-101 requires the marketplace to provide "equivalent access" so that access is meaningful and section 11.2 of Companion Policy 21-101CP provides guidance as to the meaning of that term. In particular, subsection 11.2(2) states that using different technology to execute orders, responding more slowly to orders of non-participants, or charging fees that have the effect of creating a barrier to access would not be permitted. However, commercially justified conditions for execution (such as all or none, delayed delivery, "cash") are, of course, permitted.

6.Recordkeeping requirements and systems' capacity and integrity requirements

The recordkeeping requirements allow the Canadian securities regulatory authorities to check compliance with NI 21-101. Requirements for appropriate systems' capacity and integrity requirements are necessary to reduce risks of disruptions of the Canadian market due to failure of a significant marketplace to have proper capacity, recovery and back-up capabilities. The purpose of these requirements is to promote and maintain the integrity of and confidence in the markets.

Part 10 of NI 21-101 imposes additional recordkeeping requirements for marketplaces regarding the identification of participants and daily trading summaries including time sequenced records of order information.

Part 11 of NI 21-101 specifies requirements regarding capacity estimates, stress tests of critical systems, review procedures for system development, contingency planning and an annual independent review. These requirements will be applicable to recognized exchanges, recognized quotation and trade reporting systems, and ATSs whose size reaches 20 percent of the daily dollar trading volume in any type of security. Part 13 of Companion Policy 21-101CP provides additional guidance on how to implement these requirements. While these requirements have not traditionally been imposed on marketplaces, the CSA believe that increased reliance on technology makes these requirements prudent business practice and a necessity to ensure the integrity of the Canadian capital market. Consideration may be given at a later date whether such systems' integrity requirements should be extended to dealers or service providers.

7.Carrying on business as an ATS within a jurisdiction

The CSA believe that it is necessary to consider when an ATS would be carrying on business in a jurisdiction which would require compliance with NI 21-101 and NI 23-101. The CSA are seeking comment on whether and under what circumstances the mere placement of terminals or providing network access in a jurisdiction by an ATS would cause the ATS to be found to be carrying on business within the jurisdiction as opposed to providing "remote access." The Canadian securities regulatory authorities are considering this issue both in the context of remote access to trading systems within Canada and remote access to trading systems outside of Canada.

(a) Canadian ATSs carrying on business in a jurisdiction

CSA Staff are of the view that the extent and nature of the contact with investors should determine whether an ATS is carrying on business in a jurisdiction. This would mean that if an ATS provided investors with direct access to its system, marketed its services to investors or provided training to investors, then the ATS would be carrying on business in any jurisdiction where such investors were located. However, if the ATSs' only contact was with dealers registered in the jurisdiction (hereafter referred to as "remote access"), then it would only be subject to the regulatory requirements in its home jurisdiction (hereafter referred to as the "Home Jurisdiction Approach."). In respect of a Canadian ATS carrying on business in another Canadian jurisdiction, the home jurisdiction of the ATS would be the jurisdiction where the ATS' head office is located, as set out on Form 21-101F2.

If the investor's access to the ATS is only through a locally registered dealer, then the investor could have sufficient protection because it has the benefits of local law and registration requirements, particularly if the dealer is a member of a self-regulatory organization recognized in the local jurisdiction. In addition, if the ATS is regulated in its home jurisdiction, the investor will also indirectly (and maybe even directly) receive the benefits of any regulatory requirements imposed in the home jurisdiction.

CSA Staff believe the Home Jurisdiction Approach works particularly well if the home jurisdiction is another Canadian jurisdiction and all of the CSA jurisdictions adopt NI 21-101 and NI 23-101. Under these circumstances, the regulatory requirements are the same but the reporting and oversight will be streamlined.

Question 7: What type of activities should lead the CSA to the conclusion that an ATS is carrying on business in a jurisdiction?

Question 8: What limitations should be placed on the ATS' activities in a dealers' jurisdiction if the CSA adopts the Home Jurisdiction Approach?

Question 9: Are there any alternative approaches that should be considered by the CSA?

(b) Foreign ATSs carrying on business in a jurisdiction

In recent years, several trading systems outside of Canada have proposed permitting access to their trading facilities. In limited circumstances, some trading systems have been permitted to provide terminals in Canada. For example, in Ontario, in September 1995, Instinet U.S. was granted registration as an international dealer, which permitted it to provide terminals to Ontario Designated Institutions (a term defined in Regulation 1015 to the Securities Act (Ontario)) to trade foreign securities which are not listed on a Canadian exchange directly on the Instinet network. This arrangement was permitted until the issues regarding ATSs were dealt with on a broad policy basis.

The CSA have been examining different alternatives for addressing these concerns. At this time, the CSA are considering whether an approach similar to that set out above is appropriate for trading systems that are located and regulated outside of Canada. Specifically this would mean that if a foreign ATS provided direct access to investors, marketed its services to investors or provided training to investors in a jurisdiction, then the ATS would be carrying on business in any jurisdiction where such investors resided. However, if the ATSs' only contact were with dealers registered in the jurisdiction, then it would only be subject to the regulatory requirements in the foreign jurisdiction which is its home jurisdiction. This would be similar to when a Canadian dealer contacts a foreign dealer to execute a customer's order in a foreign market. Currently, Canadian regulators permit this type of arrangement provided there is a regulated intermediary in the foreign jurisdiction which executes the trade. The CSA are specifically requesting comment on issues related to foreign ATSs carrying on business in a jurisdiction.

Question 10: Should the foreign ATS be required to be a regulated entity in its home jurisdiction? If so, must it be regulated under the securities laws of the home jurisdiction?

Question 11: Should access to the foreign ATS be through a Canadian dealer contacting a dealer that is regulated in the foreign jurisdiction (home jurisdiction of the foreign ATS)?

Question 12: Should this approach be limited to acceptable home jurisdictions, and if so what jurisdictions should be approved as acceptable?

(c) Order Routing and Remote Access

Some dealers may only act as order routers, which means the main service they provide is the technology which enables a customer to direct an order to a market for execution. While such activity still requires the dealer to comply with the same registration requirements as other registered dealers, the level of service can be quite different from a full service dealer. The dealer can be little more than a communication link.

CSA Staff are considering whether the nature of the activities of the dealer should have an impact on permitting remote access without any further regulation of the foreign ATS. For example, should the CSA permit remote access through a dealer that does not provide investment recommendations.

Question 13: Should the availability of the Home Jurisdiction Approach depend on the activities of the registered dealer in the jurisdiction where the investor is located?

Question 14: Should the answer to the above question depend upon whether the home jurisdiction is another Canadian jurisdiction or a foreign jurisdiction?

CSA Staff are also considering whether the Home Jurisdiction Approach should be permitted if the only activity and purpose of a dealer is to direct orders from the customer to an ATS located in a foreign jurisdiction. Should the CSA allow a dealer to be set up as a Canadian subsidiary of the foreign ATS under a remote access model, or must the Canadian dealer be independent of the ATS?

Question 15: Should the availability of the Home Jurisdiction Approach depend on whether the Canadian registered dealer is an affiliate of the ATS?

Another example is the use of the international dealer registration in Ontario. CSA Staff is aware that foreign markets are attempting to provide access to their markets through foreign dealers which are registered as international dealers in Ontario. These international dealers route the orders to affiliates located in the foreign jurisdiction where the market is located. Although international dealers are limited in the scope of their activity, their regulatory requirements are also limited. The CSA are requesting comment on whether remote access should be permitted through international dealers or other categories of dealers which are not members of a self-regulatory organization.

Question 16: Should remote access be limited to dealers which are members of a self-regulatory organization?

B.NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 23-101 : TRADING RULES

Currently, each of the established recognized exchanges have implemented trading rules which are designed to establish fair and equitable trade practices and to prevent abusive and manipulative trade practices. If ATSs are to be allowed to operate independently of recognized marketplaces, they must also follow similar trade practices for their marketplace participants. However, in a competitive environment, it is not appropriate that the rules for ATSs be set out by other marketplace participants. It is therefore necessary for the CSA to establish basic common trading rules that will apply across all marketplaces. NI 23-101 and Companion Policy 23-101CP set forth common trading rules which will apply to trading on all marketplaces. NI 23-101 does not prohibit marketplaces from implementing additional rules.

NI 23-101 addresses two significant areas of trading practice in our markets. First, it sets forth the rules that will prevent participants from engaging in manipulation of prices or the creation of deceptive trading activity. For example, the rules establish short sale conditions. Short sales can be beneficial to the market as they can provide a stabilizing influence on market activity in order to prevent volatile price movement. In certain circumstances, however, short sales can be detrimental as they may be used as a tool for price manipulation. The short sale rule is intended to strike a balance between maintaining the beneficial aspects while at the same time preventing the detrimental aspects. Canadian exchanges have been applying different standards of short sale rules. The Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSE"), The Montréal Exchange and The Alberta Stock Exchange have used a "zero-minus tick" rule while the Vancouver Stock Exchange has used a zero-plus tick rule. The Canadian securities regulatory authorities consider that the higher standard of short sale rule, i.e., the zero-plus tick rule, is appropriate to improve market stabilization and is also consistent with the current practices and rules adopted by U.S. markets.

NI 23-101 also sets out standards for achieving best execution for customer orders and for ensuring that fair and ethical standards are applied across all markets. Specifically, the standards establish that participants' orders which are committed to the market must receive priority and prohibit the practice of crossing on the existing bid or offer without satisfying an order with previous standing. Further, they prohibit customer client transactions under 10,000 shares unless the principal gives the client a better price than the order would have received in the existing market. The CSA were particularly influenced by the Report of Special Committee on Fragmentation produced by the TSE and concurred that the formulation of rules based on short term profit motives by member firms have eroded the price discovery mechanism in our markets and have serious implications for the stability of our capital markets.

C.CONSOLIDATION PLAN

General

The CSA believe that it is important to establish a framework that will allow competition between different marketplaces. However, it is also beneficial to maintain the benefits of having a centralized market. For this reason, in order to reduce the fragmentation caused by trading occurring in multiple marketplaces, it is critical to provide for consolidation of these marketplaces. The Consolidation Plan provides a detailed plan for consolidation, which will result in all investors having access to information across all marketplaces and all investors also having access to the best price available for execution across all marketplaces.

The Consolidation Plan proposes the establishment of a data consolidator who will be chosen by the CSA in response to a Request for Proposal ("RFP"). All marketplaces will be required to provide pre-trade and post-trade information to the data consolidator. The data consolidator will distribute a consolidated Canadian data feed based on the information provided by all of these marketplaces.

The Consolidation Plan further proposes that marketplaces be integrated in a phased process. Phase 1 of integration would require that each ATS be linked to a principal market for the securities that the ATS trades. Phase 2 would require that interlinkages between ATSs and the principal market(s) be accomplished through a market integrator (the "Market Integrator"). The Market Integrator may also be chosen through an RFP process following implementation of Phase 1.

The Consolidation Plan sets a framework for establishing a centralized market system which combines the positive benefits of new alternative technologies with traditional market structures.

Issues regarding consolidation

(i) After hours trading - restriction on price

During normal trading hours in the principal market, all participating exchanges, quotation and trade reporting systems and ATSs will send pre-trade and post-trade data to the data consolidator, subject to the trade-through policy. After market hours, ATSs will be allowed to operate and will be required to provide the data consolidator with quotation and transaction information. Several major U.S. markets have announced their intent to extend trading to evening hours. If they do, it is likely that Canadian exchanges would follow with similar changes.

The CSA are specifically requesting comment on two issues related to trading outside market hours:

Question 17: Should ATSs be allowed to trade outside the closing bid-ask of the principal market or should they be required to trade within the closing bid-ask on the principal market? Should this change if the exchanges extend trading to include evening hours?

Question 18: Should ATSs operate in the pre-opening period of the principal market or should there be a no-trade time period until the principal market has opened for trading?

The Consolidation Plan contemplates that the data consolidator be supervised by a governing committee. The CSA are proposing that the governing committee discuss and determine extended trading hours required, the content of data during those hours and accommodations required for market opening and system maintenance and/or scheduled downtime.

(ii) Depth of Market

Section 7.1 of NI 21-101 and the Consolidation Plan provide that consolidated data include the volume at each price level for the best five prices on the bid and offer for each marketplace. This is based on the current practice in Canada of displaying five levels of market by price for most exchanges. The CSA also considered the following alternatives: (a) display only the best bid and offer prices, as is the practice in the U.S. (the NBBO or National Best Bid and Offer); or (b) display of volume and price for the entire depth of the book.

Showing only the best bid and offer provides marketplace participants with less information since it shows only one price level on each side of the market. The NBBO approach is the one followed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and goes back to the development of the National Market System. The development occurred at a time when technology was less advanced and electronic books were not common among exchanges.

Showing the best five levels provides more complete information about the market and is consistent with historical practices in Canada. By limiting the display to five levels, marketplace participants in each particular system would still have access to the complete order book in their own system. In this way, there is still a benefit in membership in individual systems.

Question 19: Should the display of data include the volume at each price level for the best five prices on the bid and offer for each participant system?

(iii) Choice of Regulator Given Exchange Restructuring

Market regulation (rules, surveillance, and enforcement) has traditionally been provided by exchanges. However, in an environment with ATS systems competing with exchanges, a mechanism for direct market regulation of ATSs must be established. Since ATSs will compete with exchanges, it will be necessary for the CSA to provide an overall structure that incorporates ATSs into the market oversight structure while not hindering the ability of ATSs to compete with exchanges.

Market regulation could be carried out by the CSA, an existing exchange, an existing SRO, such as the IDA, or a new SRO established for this purpose. A key issue in determining who takes on this role is which entities are best suited to perform this function and which entities have the best resources to successfully accomplish it. Another key issue is that market regulation not hinder the effective operation of any marketplace participant because of conflicts of interests.

The CSA have spent significant time discussing this issue. As a result of this careful review, and until there is another acceptable regulatory option in Canada, the CSA have formulated the following provisions for market regulation.

1. The CSA will adopt NI 23-101, which will provide for a standardized and co-ordinated set of rules governing trade practices on all marketplaces carrying on business in Canada.

2. An ATS that chooses to be a member of the IDA, will be required to contract with an exchange of its choice for the exchange to provide surveillance and enforcement for the ATS. In this way, each ATS has some choice over the appropriate party to perform its surveillance while the exchanges have the opportunity to spread the costs of market oversight to the ATS for whom it performs this function. The CSA will be responsible for oversight of any conflict between exchanges and ATSs in the performance of these functions.

3. Where securities trade on multiple exchanges and are subject to regulatory oversight by multiple exchanges, those exchanges will be required to provide co-ordination of surveillance and enforcement activities on behalf of the ATS for the purposes of applying the NI 23-101 across all participant systems.

The proposal as described above is based on the existing interlisted structure in Canada. However, if the exchanges' proposal for restructuring is adopted, then each issue will trade on only one exchange. This changed model has implications for regulatory oversight of ATSs. The CSA are specifically requesting comment on the following issues:

Question 20: Should an ATS have to contract with the exchange on which a security is listed or should it still be able to choose the exchanges that will perform the market regulation function? This question should be considered from both of the following perspectives: pre-exchange restructuring and post-exchange restructuring.

Question 21: If an ATS is going to trade all listed equities (senior and junior) should it be required to contract with both exchanges for oversight or with only one? This question should be considered from both of the following perspectives: pre-exchange restructuring and post-exchange restructuring.

(iv) Regulatory Halts

The CSA are considering whether it is appropriate to require an ATS to halt trading in a security when there is a regulatory halt imposed by the market where the security is listed or quoted. The CSA are suggesting that, during any regulatory halt, the data consolidator cease to disseminate information on that security until the halt has been lifted by the market where the security is listed or quoted and the security has entered a pre-opening period.

Question 22: Should any restrictions be placed upon an ATS when there is a regulatory halt imposed by the market where the security is listed or quoted? Should it matter if a halt is imposed by a recognized quotation and trade reporting system?

D.SPECIFIC REQUESTS FOR COMMENT

In summary, the CSA specifically request comment on the following issues:

Question 1: Is 40 percent of the average daily dollar value of the trading volume in any type of security traded in Canada an appropriate threshold or should it be lower (for example, 10 percent or 20 percent)?

Question 2: Should the CSA retain the second volume threshold set out in paragraph 6.5(1)(b) of NI 21-101 relating to 50 percent of the average daily dollar value of the trading volume in any security and 5 percent of the average daily dollar value of the trading volume in any type of security trading in Canada?

Question 3: Is it feasible to require ATSs to calculate the volume threshold when dealing with foreign markets?

Question 4: Should trading of securities of reporting issuers on an ATS be limited to securities that are listed on a recognized exchange?

Question 5: What foreign markets should be included in the Appendix to NI 21-101?

Question 6: Should there be a de minimis exemption for principal trading in order to encourage dealers to invest in ATSs?

Question 7: What type of activities should lead the CSA to the conclusion that an ATS is carrying on business in a jurisdiction?

Question 8: What limitations should be placed on the ATS' activities in a dealers' jurisdiction if the CSA adopts the Home Jurisdiction Approach?

Question 9: Are there any alternative approaches that should be considered by the CSA?

Question 10: Should the foreign ATSs be required to be a regulated entity in its home jurisdiction? If so, must it be regulated under the securities laws of the home jurisdiction?

Question 11: Should access to the foreign ATS be through a Canadian dealer contacting a dealer that is regulated in the foreign jurisdiction (home jurisdiction of the foreign ATS)?

Question 12: Should this approach be limited to acceptable home jurisdictions, and if so what jurisdictions should be approved as acceptable?

Question 13: Should the availability of the Home Jurisdiction Approach depend on the activities of the registered dealer in the jurisdiction where the investor is located?

Question 14: Should the answer to the above question depend upon whether the home jurisdiction is another Canadian jurisdiction or a foreign jurisdiction?

Question 15: Should the availability of the Home Jurisdiction Approach depend on whether the activities of the Canadian registered dealer is an affiliate of the ATS?

Question 16: Should remote access be limited to dealers which are members of a self-regulatory organization?

Question 17: Should ATSs be allowed to trade outside the closing bid-ask of the principal market or should they be required to trade within the closing bid-ask on the principal market? Should this change if the exchanges extend trading to include evening hours?

Question 18: Should ATSs operate in the pre-opening period of the principal market or should there be a no-trade time period until the principal market has opened for trading?

Question 19: Should the display of data include the volume at each price level for the best five prices on the bid and offer for each participant system?

Question 20: Should an ATS have to contract with the exchange on which a security is listed or should it still be able to choose the exchanges that will perform the market regulation function? This question should be considered from both of the following perspectives: pre-exchange restructuring and post-exchange restructuring.

Question 21: If an ATS is going to trade all listed equities (senior and junior) should it be required to contract with both exchanges for oversight or with only one? This question should be considered from both of the following perspectives: pre-exchange restructuring and post-exchange restructuring.

Question 22: Should any restrictions be placed upon an ATS when there is a regulatory halt imposed by the market where the security is listed or quoted? Should it matter if a halt is imposed by a recognized quotation and trade reporting system?

Alternatives Considered

NI 21-101 provides an appropriate framework for the regulation of ATSs. Accordingly, no alternatives were considered to the adoption of NI 21-101. Similarly, once ATSs begin operating in Canada, NI 23-101 is also necessary as ATSs are not allowed to set requirements governing member conduct. Consequently, no alternatives were considered to the adoption of NI 23-101.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits

NI 21-101 allows ATSs to compete with traditional markets, such as exchanges. When an environment is established that allows for competition among markets, then investors will have choices. The CSA are of the view that allowing such competition will stimulate innovation and encourage markets to offer better features and services to their members and subscribers and at lower costs. The Consolidation Plan will combine the positive benefits of competing systems while preserving the benefits of a centralized market.

NI 21-101 also provides improved market transparency for all marketplaces as well as interlinkage of those marketplaces so that all buyers and sellers of a security have access to the best price for execution.

The requirements regarding systems capacity, integrity and security of systems provide several benefits to the marketplace and to investors. Marketplaces are increasingly reliant on technology and most of their functions are becoming highly automated. The ability of marketplaces to provide more reliable and consistent service in the market benefits investors and the markets.

NI 21-101 imposes costs on ATSs, exchanges and quotation and trade reporting systems as a result of the requirements imposed by NI 21-101, including application procedures, access requirements, the requirement to adopt certain by-laws and rules, the requirements relating to pre-trade and post-trade transparency and market integration, and the requirements relating to capacity, integrity and security of systems. In particular, the notice, reporting and recordkeeping requirements will require marketplaces to file certain additional information. The requirements relating to capacity, integrity and security will also impose costs. However, smaller ATSs will not be subject to the requirements relating to capacity, integrity and security of systems.

In the view of the CSA, the benefits outweigh the costs.

NI 23-101 benefits purchasers and sellers of securities in that it is designed to prohibit certain practices and to require other practices, all of which are necessary for the operation of fair and efficient capital markets. NI 23-101 imposes compliance costs on persons or companies subject to NI 23-101 in that it prohibits certain activities. It also imposes costs on marketplace participants in terms of the best execution rules and the rules restricting principal trading. It also requires marketplaces to monitor and enforce compliance with certain of the provisions of NI 23-101. In the view of the CSA, the benefits of NI 23-101 outweigh the costs.

Comments

Interested parties are invited to make written submissions with respect to National Instruments, Forms, Companion Policies and Consolidation Plan. Submissions received by October 1, 1999 will be considered.

Submissions should be sent to all of the Canadian securities regulatory authorities listed below in care of the OSC, in duplicate, as indicated below:

British Columbia Securities Commission
Alberta Securities Commission
Saskatchewan Securities Commission
The Manitoba Securities Commission
Ontario Securities Commission
Office of the Administrator, New Brunswick
Registrar of Securities, Prince Edward Island
Nova Scotia Securities Commission
Securities Commission of Newfoundland
Registrar of Securities, Northwest Territories
Registrar of Securities, Yukon Territory
Registrar of Securities, Nunavut

c/o Daniel P. Iggers, Secretary
Ontario Securities Commission
20 Queen Street West
Suite 800, Box 55
Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S8
E-mail: diggers@osc.gov.on.ca

Submissions should also be addressed to the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec as follows:

Claude St. Pierre, Secretary
Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec
800 Victoria Square
Stock Exchange Tower
P.O. Box 246, 22nd Floor
Montréal, Québec H4Z 1G3
E-mail: claude.stpierre@cvmq.com

A diskette containing the submissions (in DOS or Windows format, preferably WordPerfect) should also be submitted. As securities legislation in certain provinces requires that a summary of written comments received during the comment period be published, confidentiality of submissions cannot be maintained.

Questions may be referred to any of:

Louyse Gauvin
Executive Assistant to the Chair
British Columbia Securities Commission
(604) 899-6538
or (800) 373-6393 (in B.C.)

Robert Hudson
Manager and Senior Legal Counsel
Policy and Legisation
British Columbia Securities Commission
(604) 899-6691
or (800) 373-6393 (in B.C.)

Ross McLennan
Director, Registration
British Columbia Securities Commission
(604) 899-6685
or (800) 373-6393 (in B.C.)

Glenda Campbell
Director, Legal Services & Policy Development
Alberta Securities Commission
(403) 297-4230

Eric Spink
Vice Chair
Alberta Securities Commission
(780) 422-1503

Barbara Shourounis
Director of the Securities Commission
Saskatchewan Securities Commission
(306) 787-5842

Doug Brown
Counsel
The Manitoba Securities Commission
(204) 945-0605

Randee Pavalow
Manager, Market Regulation
Ontario Securities Commission
(416) 593-8257

Susan Greenglass
Legal Counsel, Market Regulation
Ontario Securities Commission
(416) 593-8140

AnneMarie Ryan
Consultant, Market Regulation
Ontario Securities Commission
(416) 593-3669

Diane Joly
Director, Research and Market Development
Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec
(514) 940-2199, ext. 4551

CSA Staff would like to thank Hugh Cleland for his guidance in the early stages of this project.

DATED at Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 30, 1999.

Douglas M. Hyndman
Chair

Appendix A: REGULATION OF ALTERNATIVE TRADING SYSTEMS IN CANADA


Section 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMAR

Significant discussion and debate has been carried out for over ten years on the appropriate regulatory framework under which Alternative Trading Systems ("ATSs") should be allowed to operate in Canada. This paper presents a brief history of the events regarding ATSs and attempts to summarize the key issues on this topic.

As the investment industry has evolved in recent decades, technology has been a major influence on the nature of business operation. Academic analysis on the effects of technology has concluded that it provides great benefits for investors, increasing competition and providing greater transparency of markets.

In Canada, ATSs have been allowed to operate in a restricted fashion. Concerns over market fragmentation have resulted in ATSs being limited to operation only as members of an existing exchange. However, most market participants believe that the time has come to allow ATSs to compete with traditional exchanges.

In assessing this issue, Canadian regulators have been particularly cognisant of recent developments in US markets, where the SEC has recently adopted new rules that permit ATSs to register as either exchanges or dealers, and further require that ATSs be linked to the National Market System. While Canada has several specific issues which need to be addressed, Canadian regulators have been particularly interested in US developments and believe that it is appropriate to follow a model closely based on the US approach.

In this paper, close attention was given to the attributes of ideal markets and to how these attributes could be applied in the Canadian context, to deal specifically with the issues of concentration, fragmentation and the future role of traditional exchanges.

The Canadian Securities Administrators ("CSA") is setting forth, in National Instrument 21-101 "Marketplace Operations" and National Instrument 23-101 "Trading Rules", a regulatory framework for marketplaces, which will combine these new markets based on technology, with traditional market structures.
Section 2: BACKGROUND

Alternative Trading Systems ("ATSs") are Electronic Trading Systems ("ETSs").¹

¹ Electronic Trading System is the general term used to describe computer systems that automate all or part of the trade process. They may provide order routing between clients, brokers and/or exchanges or they may perform the execution matching typically provided by exchanges.

ATSs provide automated matching systems, which bring together orders from buyers and sellers, by using predetermined, established methods or rules under which such orders interact. They may operate a continuous auction book, a dealer market, a call market, or an anonymous match based on a price determined by the principal market. ATSs have gained great appeal in a number of market segments, primarily because they have features and services not typically offered by traditional exchange markets. They have previously been referred to as Non-Exchange Trading Systems ("NETS") and Proprietary Electronic Trading Systems ("PETS").

Over the past decade, regulators in both Canada and the US have undertaken extensive research and review of electronic trading in order that they may establish an appropriate framework of regulation for ATSs and incorporate these new systems into traditional market structures. This paper sets out the history of ATSs and discusses the issues they raise for discussion in more detail.
2.1 Alternative Trading Systems in Canada

In 1988, Instinet Canada Limited ("ICL")²

² Instinet Canada Limited is a subsidiary of Instinet Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reuters Group PLC.

purchased a seat on The Toronto Stock Exchange and applied for TSE membership. A group of TSE member firms strongly opposed Instinet’s admission to membership and, following extensive discussions between the TSE and ICL, the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC") was asked to intervene. In 1989, the OSC ruled that Instinet should be admitted to membership and that the TSE should appoint a Rule Review Committee to examine changes required to improve market quality and limit market fragmentation due to Instinet’s inclusion. Instinet was restricted from installing terminals in Canada while the Rule Review Committee study was being conducted.

Subsequent to the Report of the Rule Review Committee, the OSC agreed to maintain the status quo provided that the TSE make the necessary rule changes recommended in the Report³

³ Since that time, the TSE has adopted most of the changes but did not make one of the most significant changes that dealt with the cross interference rule.

and prepare an in-depth study of the market fragmentation issue. The Commission confirmed ICL’s TSE membership and registration as a broker, subject to the same restrictions imposed by the earlier ruling.⁴

⁴ ICL could serve Canadian accounts in Canadian and foreign securities but its customers were required to telephone orders to the ICL trading desk, where traders then keyed the orders into the Instinet system.

Instinet commenced operation as a TSE member in 1993, but was not permitted to install terminals on customers’ desks in Ontario.

In May 1994, the OSC published a paper entitled "Electronic Trading Systems in Ontario" and in June 1994, sponsored a Forum to discuss the issues regarding NETS.

In early 1995, Versus Brokerage Services Inc. ("VBSI"), a subsidiary of Versus Technologies Inc. ("VTI") was registered as a broker. Under TSE Policy XXX,⁵

⁵ TSE Policy XXX allows designated financial institutions to directly input their orders to a TSE member firm’s order routing system. Designated institutions are defined under Policy XXX.

VTI offered a terminal network permitting member firms, as well as institutions and foreign dealers to route orders to the TSE. VBSI participated in the network as a TSE member broker. In addition, Versus offered institutional clients the opportunity to participate in an electronic call (The Canadian Call) which is a call market facility integrated with the primary Canadian exchanges.

In September 1995, Instinet Corporation was granted registration by the OSC as an International Dealer, permitting it to provide terminals to institutions in Ontario to trade foreign listed securities, which were not interlisted on any Canadian exchange. The exchanges challenged this ruling and requested a formal hearing on the subject. The OSC denied requests from the major Canadian exchanges to hold a hearing on the matter and further determined that a formal process should be put in place to obtain meaningful comment on the issue of fragmentation.

In January 1997, the TSE published its long awaited Report of the Special Committee on Market Fragmentation⁶,

⁶ TSE Special Committee Report, Market Fragmentation: Responding to the Challenge, Jan.1997.

("the SC Report"), analysing the extent of fragmentation of equity markets in Canada. The SC Report analysed the causes and effects of fragmentation on the Canadian equity market. The report concluded that consolidated markets provide the highest quality, but that it is not always possible to satisfy the needs of different participants with one market structure. It further concluded that one of the most serious impacts from fragmentation was due to the "excessive diversion of smaller orders away from the TSE’S auction market."⁷

⁷ TSE Special Committee Report, Market Fragmentation: Responding to the Challenge, Jan.1997, p.39.

The SC Report recommended that ATSs be permitted to operate immediately as TSE members. The report further stated that it was inevitable that ATSs would be allowed to operate as competitors and that the TSE should take a leadership role in establishing an appropriate framework under which they should be allowed to operate.

The OSC published a Request for Comments and Notice of Forum on the subject. Subsequently, the British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC"), the Alberta Securities Commission ("ASC"), the Saskatchewan Securities Commission ("SSC"), and the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec ("CVMQ") notified the OSC that they would like to participate in the meeting. The Forum was held in April 1998, and was presided over by the Chairs of the OSC, BCSC, ASC, SSC and CVMQ. Upon consideration of the comments at the Forum, responses to the request for comments, developments in other jurisdictions (particularly the SEC Rule on ATSs) and further discussions with market participants, the CSA is publishing today Proposed National Instrument 21-101, Marketplace Operations, and the Companion Policy 21-101CP as well as Proposed National Instrument 23-101, Trading Rules, and the Companion Policy 23-101CP.

2.2 ATSs in the United States

The CSA has followed developments on this issue in the US markets. The CSA has benefited from the research and analysis done by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and from discussions on key issues with the SEC. The CSA has attempted to develop an approach that is consistent with the SEC approach while also taking into account specific differences in the Canadian market.

Canadian exchanges are profoundly influenced by events occurring in the US markets. Over 200 Canadian companies are interlisted between Canadian and US markets and Canadian issuers increasingly look to US markets for listing. Because of their leadership role and their size relative to Canadian markets,⁸

⁸ The NYSE has $8.9 trillion (US) in capitalization, NASDAQ has $1.7 trillion (US) while the TSE, Canada’s largest exchange has $0.6 trillion (US).

developments in the US have a significant influence on market structure issues in Canada. ATSs and their regulation, is one of several key issues that reflect the continuing evolution of markets and is a topic which the Canadian investment community has followed and debated in great detail.

Although Canadian markets have historically been highly automated in the trade match and execution process,⁹

⁹ All Canadian exchanges operate totally automated electronic book systems rather than traditional open outcry trading floors. The TSE closed its trading floor in April 1997.

automation of the entire trade process has evolved more rapidly in the US. Specifically, the establishment of a variety of alternative forms of trading systems has led the SEC to continually effect changes to accommodate an evolving market structure.

In the early 1970’s, the SEC was dealing with a number of issues concerning regional exchanges, the growth of institutional pools of funds and issues related to the applications of technology. In 1975, the SEC enacted the Securities Act Amendments Act of 1975, which dealt with matters regarding competition between market centres and the benefits of technology.

The principal objective of the Act was to provide for "equally regulated, individual markets which are linked together to make their best price known and accessible."¹⁰

¹⁰ Securities and Exchange Commission Release No. 34-40760, Regulation of Exchanges and Alternative Trading Systems, P.8.

It directed that a National Market System ("NMS") be established, to provide for fair access to market information and for the linking of markets.

The establishment of a NMS¹¹

¹¹ The NMS has three components: the Consolidated Tape, the Consolidated Quotation System and the Intermarket Trading System.

ensured that all participants would have access to information regarding the volume and price of bids and offers in all markets and that a National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) would be published by vendors. Further, all participants would have access to "best execution" of their order, at the best bid or offer price across all markets. The Act also provided the SEC with the authority to regulate and oversee securities information processors (such as SIAC and NASDAQ).

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it established that the use of technology to provide transaction services that might challenge traditional exchanges and their members not be discouraged. To this end, it required the NYSE and AMEX to remove rules which required that their members must make all trades in listed securities on the exchange.

Following the implementation of the NMS, the SEC was faced with the question of how to register computer-based networks that were designed to bring together and match buying and selling interests. In order to foster competition and to allow for the development of these new systems, the SEC chose to register them as broker-dealers, rather than as exchanges. Regulation 17a-23 identified such systems as Electronic Communications Networks ("ECNs")¹²

¹² ECNs are ATSs which both match orders internally and connect to other markets for execution.

and required them to keep certain records in addition to those normally kept by broker-dealers.

From 1979 until the early 1990’s, ATSs were targeted at institutional investors and captured increasing trading volumes, primarily in NASDAQ issues. Institutions were permitted to trade as subscribers in ATSs and exchange members were able to participate based on Rule 19-c3¹³.

¹³ Rule 19c3 provides that member firms may not be prohibited from trading off-exchange; US exchanges cannot require that members place agency orders in any listed security on the exchange. With respect to bids/offers made as principal, the exchanges were permitted to retain the prohibition on off-exchange trading for securities listed prior to April 26, 1979.

In 1996, the SEC announced new rules regarding the handling of retail orders in US markets. The order handling rules required that:

a) all client limit orders better than the NBBO must be displayed
b) limit orders be displayed by specialists in their quote, and
c) market makers display the price of any orders that they enter into alternative systems that are not available to investors in general.

Since the changes effected by the order handling rules, the growth of trading in ECNs in US markets has grown at a tremendous pace. By the end of 1998, there were 9 major ECNs in operation (and another 30 smaller ones) which collectively traded over 12 billion shares in 1998. Latest estimates indicate that they account for as much as 35% of orders in NASDAQ and close to 8% of orders in listed securities.¹⁴

¹⁴ R. Buckman and A. Lucchetti, Electronic Networks Threaten Trading Desks on Street, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 23, 1998

Until recently, ATSs essentially operated outside the exchange and National Market Systems. Their increasing popularity and growth led the SEC to further clarify the role of ATSs in US markets and how they should be incorporated into the regulatory structure.

In December 1998, the SEC published its final rule regarding the regulation of ATSs, adopting a regulatory framework that would balance a centralized market with competition. The final rule gave ATSs the choice to register as exchanges or to register as broker-dealers and comply with Regulation ATS. ATSs which trade more than 5% of the volume in NMS securities must be registered as a broker-dealer with an existing SRO and they must be linked with a registered market in order to disseminate their best priced orders into the public quote display. In addition, they must comply with the same market rules governing execution priorities that apply to members of registered exchanges. The SEC enacted these rules to "more effectively integrate the growing number of alternative trading systems into the national market system" and also to "provide an opportunity for registered exchanges to better compete with alternative trading systems."¹⁵

¹⁵ Securities and Exchange Commission Release No. 34-40760

2.3 Industry Trends

The debate regarding ATSs has taken place in the context of rapidly changing capital markets, not only in Canada, but also around the world. Market participants face a number of trends, which are changing the way investors participate in the market, and, in particular, the manner in which they transact their business.

2.3.1 Technology

Without question, technology and its applications has been one of the single greatest influences on capital markets over the past decade. Rapid changes in technology have had a profound impact on the nature of business operations. Evolving technologies in hardware, software applications and communications since the early 1980’s have impacted capital markets and the rate of change continues to accelerate. Applications of technology to the trading process have given rise to totally electronic markets that are seamlessly integrated with order management systems as well as clearing and settlement systems. These markets now operate with increased efficiencies, able to transact unprecedented volumes at ever-increasing speeds. While these efficiencies have led to improved products and services for customers, they have also resulted in lowering the overall costs of transactions.

In addition to improvements to the efficiency of transactions, technology has provided investors with greater access to information about securities and the markets on which they trade. Advances in communications have reduced geographical boundaries, giving investors access to markets once separated by physical location. As a result, technology has enabled competition to develop that challenges the traditional structure of capital markets.

2.3.2 Globalization

As investors have been able to access greater choice among markets, technology has led to increased globalisation of investment. Companies seeking to raise capital are no longer bound to local jurisdictions and have sought to raise capital in markets that offer them the greatest benefit. So, too, investors faced with increased choices have sought to improve their rates of return by investing in markets that offer the greatest opportunity for growth and development, regardless of geographical location.

2.3.3 Institutional Consolidation

As a result of deregulation in financial service sectors, large financial service organizations now offer a breadth of financial services to investors and the distinction between the four pillars of finance (banking, trust, brokerage and insurance) has blurred. These new organizations operate large pooled funds on behalf of their customers, creating markets that are now dominated by institutional participants. Technology has also enabled growth in both the breadth of products offered and the growth of the large pooled funds. Index funds, global diversified funds, and quantitative funds operate large pooled funds based on technology.

In the US, in the last 5 years, capital under management has risen from $500 billion to over $4 trillion. The Toronto Stock Exchange, in its recent Blueprint For Success noted that "share ownership by institutional investors in Canada increased in the last 15 years from approximately 50% to an estimated 80% of the total equity market." The result has been that institutional traders must manage orders with great care and that market impact costs far exceed commission costs.

2.3.4 Challenges to the Traditional Role of Intermediaries

The changes brought about by technological innovation have provided investors with greater choice than ever before. This innovation has established new and improved methods of operation and threatens traditional market structure and processes. As investors have gained greater access to markets and information, they have become less reliant on the traditional intermediary function supplied by brokerages. Traditional roles which brokers played have become replaced by technology. Research, once reserved for a broker’s own client base, is now readily available from a variety of sources on the Internet. Indeed, brokers themselves have made access to their proprietary research readily available. Market information, once available only to investment professionals from market data vendors, is now provided free of charge by vendors, brokers and other information providers. Finally, in recent years, access to both primary markets and secondary markets has become commonplace using technology. The growth of discount trading and access to ECN networks¹⁶

¹⁶ ECNs, or Electronic Communications Networks, such as Island, BRUT, and Archipelago offer retail investors the ability to enter orders which may be matched against other retail orders in their own trade system or routed to another market, such as NASDAQ for display in the NMS.

has allowed individual investors to effect their transactions with virtually no intermediation by brokers.

Institutional investors, who are seeking to match large block trades, are no longer satisfied with the traditional intermediation provided by block traders at investment firms. Managers of large block trades now seek the ability to manage their trade execution directly and to minimize market impact costs.¹⁷

¹⁷ Market Impact is defined as the negative effect on the price of the stock caused by market knowledge of a large order to buy or sell.

According to studies carried out by Plexus Group,¹⁸

¹⁸ Plexus Group is a consulting group which specializes in measuring the cost of transactions for institutional investors.

more than two-thirds of original institutional desk orders for a given stock exceed half of that stock's daily volume. The liquidity previously provided by brokers, acting as principal, has not kept up with the growth of large institutional orders. Institutional traders want to be able to find counterparties to their trades in systems that provide anonymity and do not force them to reveal the full size of their order to find the opposite side.

2.3.5 Challenges to Traditional Exchange Structures

As regulators respond to providing a framework to incorporate alternative markets, the traditional monopoly position that most exchanges have held is no longer tenable or practical. Faced with increasing competition from these alternative markets, exchanges around the world are seeking ways in which to improve their efficiency and attract participants to their markets. The rise of alternative types of markets has also led market participants to question what constitutes an exchange and what functions are intrinsic to its operation. In order to be more competitive, traditional exchanges have studied a number of changes to the way in which they operate to make them more competitive. First, exchanges have sought to merge or consolidate with other exchanges and benefit from combined liquidity and increased operational efficiencies. Second, many exchanges are moving towards demutualization and establishing a public/private corporate structure as opposed to a membership based organization. They are also seeking to provide access to institutional investors in more direct ways then ever before, whether by offering direct trading access to their market, by offering new market facilities such as OptiMark¹⁹,

¹⁹ The OptiMark system operates as a facility of an exchange, and offers an anonymous, non-disclosed call market, incorporating the exchange book with large block orders entered directly by institutions. OptiMark currently is in operation at the Pacific Coast Exchange and has agreements to license their technology with Nasdaq, Osaka and The Toronto Stock Exchange.

or through changing the ownership structure to broaden the scope of participation.

Section 3: AN IDEAL MARKET STRUCTURE

3.1 Attributes of an Ideal Marke

The strength and viability of a capital market are essentially dependent on two principal functions: first, the ability to support financing of enterprises by raising capital in the primary market and second, the ability to value publicly traded assets accurately and efficiently in the secondary markets. To the extent that market structure supports these fundamental functions, that market structure will provide for a capital market that meets the needs of market participants. In determining the appropriate overall structure in the Canadian context, the CSA’s objective has been to ensure both public confidence in the marketplace and investor protection.

The issues surrounding market structure and how best to achieve an ideal market have been studied in recent years both in Canada and in the US by a number of market participants and academics. The TSE, in its Report of the Special Committee on Market Fragmentation, published in 1997, adopted a model (known as the Kirzner Model)²⁰

²⁰ The ideal market model was named for Eric Kirzner, Professor of Finance at the University of Toronto, and who acted as Chairman of the Special Committee.

which set forth a framework describing the attributes of an ideal market. These attributes were defined to be Immediacy, Liquidity, Transparency, Price Discovery, Fairness, Integrity of the Credit Ring and Integrity of the Market. This model has been used in much of the debate in this country on the appropriate framework for ATSs and exchanges to operate.

In examining this model and much of the other market structure theory, the characteristics of an ideal market essentially fall into two broad categories, "Integrity of the Market" and "Efficiency of the Market". All of the attributes described in the Kirzner model fall within these broad categories, with certain attributes having a higher value and greater impact than others.

3.1.1 Integrity of the Market

The Integrity of the Market will be dependent on public confidence and perception that the market operates in a fair and ethical manner. Investors and the public, in general, must believe that all participants have equal access to accurate and timely information about the issues being traded. Marketplaces that have a high level of integrity will have effective practices regarding disclosure of issuer information to all participants.

Participants must believe that they are not unfairly discriminated against, as compared to any other set of participants (including insiders) in their ability to effect transactions in the marketplace. The marketplace will have rules that are perceived to apply fair and equitable principles by which transactions are executed, once again, serving all participants equally. In addition, information concerning orders and transactions in the marketplace must have a high degree of transparency. Markets are determined to be transparent when they make information about orders (pre-trade) and transactions (post-trade) in the marketplace available to the public on a real-time basis, so that all participants have equal access to accurate and timely information.

Finally, participants must also have a high degree of trust that transactions in the marketplace are being executed through trustworthy counterparties and that the transaction will be completed and settled in a satisfactory manner (this is generally referred to as the Integrity of the Credit Ring).

3.1.2 Efficiency of the Market

The Efficiency of the Market refers to the ability of any participant to be able to execute a transaction quickly and easily, at a price which accurately reflects supply and demand with minimum transaction costs. In terms of the Kirzner model, this means that the market must have immediacy, liquidity, an effective price discovery mechanism and low transaction costs.

Immediacy will mean that a transaction can be effected quickly; i.e., that a transaction can be executed in a relatively short period of time without negatively impacting the price received. This concept is closely linked with liquidity which is normally described as the ability to purchase or sell a security at or near the last sale price and will be dependent on the depth, breadth and resiliency of the market. When a market does not have liquidity and immediacy, transactions become difficult to execute and/or result in price volatility which produces inefficient pricing for participants.

When a market has an effective price discovery mechanism, buyers and sellers are able to execute their transactions at prices that accurately reflect true supply and demand as well as the market’s assessment of the value of the security. Typically, price discovery mechanisms fail when there is unequal information disclosure among participants, when the price is determined based on incomplete information about supply and demand or when one or more parties are able to engage in fraudulent or manipulative practices.

Finally, an efficient market is one in which participants are able to execute transactions at minimum cost. Transaction costs are typically measured in terms of the transaction fee charged (which may be either the brokerage commission or dealer mark-up charged) and the market impact cost. Market impact is generally believed to be the more significant (and often hidden) component of the transaction cost; it is normally defined as the difference between the market price of the security before an order was placed and the price received for execution upon completion of the order. While transaction fees have been driven steadily lower in recent years as a result of the deregulation of commission rates and through efficiencies derived from technology, market impact costs have risen dramatically. Market impact costs have risen due to the growth of institutional holdings and the increasing difficulty in effecting large block transactions.

3.2 Academic Analysis/Viewpoint

As regulators have sought to respond to the ever-increasing use of technology in the investment industry, their primary goal has been to address issues of competition and investor interest. To a large extent, they have been motivated by the anticipation of important opportunities that might be provided by emerging technologies.

Heated public discussion around the appropriate regulatory structure, which would incorporate these technologies into the traditional market structure, has generated academic literature focussed on securities markets and market structure. The impact of technology on securities markets and on the role of brokers and dealers has also generated a number of academic studies. The results of these studies have brought into question many of the conventional assumptions about the appropriate structure of exchanges and other markets, as well as the appropriate regulatory environments.

Analytic and empirical studies have focussed on topics as broad as market fragmentation and price discovery to narrower ones such as the price/time priority, the nature of limit orders, and minimum spreads. The following summarizes some of the key topics discussed by academics that are relative to the discussions around the attributes of an ideal market and the appropriate market structure to support this market.

3.2.1 Benefits of Electronic Trading

Academic analysis is universally in favour of the changes brought about by the application of technology to the trade process and, in particular, to electronic trading. Peake, Mendelson and Williams did the first comprehensive analysis on the topic of computer-based trading in 1976.²¹

²¹ The study, "Towards a Modern Exchange: The Peake-Mendelson-Williams Proposal for an Electronically Assisted Auction Market", by Junius Peake, Morris Mendelson and R.T. Williams was published in Impending Changes for Securities Markets: What Role for the Exchanges, E. Bloch and R. Schwarz, JAI Press, 1979.

This study proposed a national electronic book and greatly influenced future developments in electronic trading systems. One of the first exchange computer trading systems was the CATS system,²²

²² CATS stands for Computer Assisted Trading System.

developed by the TSE and implemented in 1977. CATS was adopted by many other exchanges including Paris, Madrid, and Brussels, and was used as the model for other systems for many years.

Benefits based on the use of electronic trading systems include:

• Ability to handle increased levels of volumes 
•  Ability for markets to compete over geographical boundaries
• Increased transparency of information
• Expanded dissemination of information
• Increased access to markets
• The seamless execution of the trade process from the point at which the investment decision was made to the completion and settlement of the trade

In addition to these benefits, electronic trading has also been a key factor, in enabling new types of trading to develop; specifically, trading in derivatives, as well as program and basket trading. Electronic trading is believed to have contributed to the huge growth of pooled funds that dominate the market. In recent years, electronic trading has given rise to alternative markets, which challenge traditional markets, such as exchanges, and have provided market participants with new products, features and services not typically offered by traditional exchanges.

3.2.2 Appropriate Implementation of Systems

When technology has been applied to the trade process, the most successful implementations have involved a reworking of the business processes themselves. Effective applications of technology should not merely replace the steps once carried out in a manual process. The development of trading systems has been a learning process for markets and for participants alike. Business processes must change to incorporate new systems and to achieve the maximum benefit that technology offers.

This issue is discussed by Amihud and Mendelson who further believe that markets must not only re-engineer the process and procedures but must also go about development in a thoughtful, cohesive fashion, determining an overall architecture for trading systems which takes into account ongoing needs for future enhancement. They contend that exchanges have largely approached automation in an unplanned, unsynchronised manner, resulting in high costs of development and onerous barriers to entry. "The piecemeal development of Exchange’s automated systems and the lack of a well-planned integrative approach impose a very high cost on trading institutions that interface with the Exchange’s systems."²³

²³ Yakov Amihud and Haim Mendelson, "Liquidity, Volatility and Exchange Automation", Journal of Accounting, Audit and Finance, Volume 3, Fall 1988.

As technology has changed rapidly over the years, exchanges have been forced to make changes to systems designed to meet long outdated demands.

3.2.3 Competition

The academic literature strongly suggests that competition has been a positive factor for the investment industry and that, in particular, challenges from ATSs to traditional exchanges have important benefits for investors. Traditional structures such as exchanges have had strong incentives to resist technology and innovation, which might decrease their intermediary power. Several studies point out that the role of the regulators should be to establish a framework that will allow competitive markets and engenders competition between various trading environments. In its Market 2000 report, the SEC pointed out that "competition among these market centres provides many benefits for the users of the markets."²⁴

²⁴ Securities and Exchange Commission, Market 2000 Report, January 1994.

Further, in response to exchanges’ fears that multiple markets would lead to fragmentation, the SEC countered that "dispersion of order flow among market centres has not impaired price discovery or market quality".²⁵

²⁵ Securities and Exchange Commission, Market 2000 Report, January 1994.

Competition has forced exchanges to be more responsive to the needs of market participants and has enabled technological innovation to move forward.

3.2.4 Market Microstructure

In recent years, great consideration has been given to the specific processes used within one market as opposed to another and the effect that those processes have on the overall quality of the market. Many academics have suggested that markets must be re-engineered and redefined based on technology and have chosen to refer to this approach as "technostructure". It is clear that a number of elements used in the systems design of a market will impact the effectiveness of that market.

As an example, when the TSE first developed its pioneer CATS trading system, trading rules were defined specifically to take advantage of the new technology and rules were based on a strict price/time priority. While on a manual floor, it was often difficult to determine who had arrived at the post first (hence the common practice of sharing stock or pro-rating), in a computer system, it was always possible to determine which order had entered the market first (if even by a millisecond). Market theorists believe that the advent of trading systems based on strict price/time priority provide a vastly more efficient market and offer wide access to unsubsidised liquidity providers, thus diminishing the need for traditional market maker roles.²⁶

²⁶ H.R. Stoll, Affirmative Obligation of Market Makers: An Idea Whose Time Has Passed?, Vanderbilt University, July 1997

In general, markets will have improved quality, meaning a greater degree of liquidity and immediacy, when their structure encourages participants to place orders in their electronic book. Markets which provide no benefit to being in the system first will find, over time, that participants will hold back orders and will develop other ways of matching trades (as for example, in an "upstairs" market).

Section 4: MARKET STRUCTURE

4.1 Objective

In assessing the appropriate framework for a revised market structure, it is important to determine the role that the regulator should play. Industry participants generally contend that the appropriate role for the regulator is to provide an environment that fosters innovation and competition, thus letting competitive forces drive the evolution of market structure. The regulator should not try to define the perfect market structure but should allow healthy competition among participants to foster innovative developments that will benefit investors. The CSA agrees with the approach taken by the SEC in its Market 2000 Report, which sets forth that the principal duty of the regulator is to "cultivate an atmosphere in which innovation is welcome, without dictating a particular structure".²⁷

²⁷ Statement by the SEC upon release of Market 2000 Report.

Historically, exchanges were established to provide a facility for buying and selling interests to interact. Brokers, acting on behalf of the buyers and sellers, met in a central location, which provided a price discovery mechanism. When demand and supply were not always evenly matched, the custom of providing intermediaries such as jobbers or specialists became common in order to provide immediacy for participants. Securities legislation developed in North America to provide a framework for these exchange structures. However, in the last twenty years, technology has provided capabilities and services not envisioned when securities legislation established the traditional exchange structures.

Securities legislators are now faced with the task of allowing competition to traditional markets and allowing innovation based on technology to develop. The challenge is incorporate new competitors into a regulatory structure that takes advantage of the benefits offered by technology while preserving the fundamental value of a strong centralised market.

In addition, regulators must establish general guidelines for all markets about fair and equitable practices. In considering how best to establish this new framework, several key issues must be addressed in the Canadian context.

4.2 Issue

4.2.1 Fragmentation

When trading in a particular security takes place in multiple locations rather than in a central marketplace, then fragmentation is said to have taken place. Fragmentation of a market can be either external or internal. External fragmentation occurs when alternative markets are established which compete with the primary market and take trading volume away from the central market. Internal fragmentation takes place when market participants find ways to match trades away from the central process.

The issue of fragmentation has been central to the discussion about an appropriate framework for ATSs. When ATSs first developed, there was strong opposition in Canada to allowing them to operate and great concern that the relatively small Canadian equity market would be severely damaged by fragmentation. However, in order to assess the impact of ATSs, it is important to look at the causes of both internal and external fragmentation.

External fragmentation will occur when the same securities trade in different locations. However, prior concerns about the effects of fragmentation are largely unfounded in the context of a consolidated market. The negative effects of external fragmentation are mitigated when participants have access to information across markets and have the ability to access those markets. This is precisely the issue that the SEC dealt with over twenty years ago when they established the National Market System. In establishing the NMS, their objective was to provide for "equally regulated, individual markets linked together to make their best prices publicly known and accessible."²⁸

²⁸ SEC Release No. 34-40760, December 1998, Page 8.

In its Market 2000 Report, the SEC observed that "dispersion of order flow among market centres has not impaired price discovery or market quality."²⁹

²⁹ SEC Market 2000 Report.

Internal fragmentation already exists in the Canadian equity market as a result of dealers internalising retail order flows and trading in the "upstairs market". However the causes of internal fragmentation are routed in the trading rules adopted by the exchanges themselves and can be addressed directly by the exchanges.³⁰

³⁰ TSE Special Committee Report on Market Fragmentation, Page 30.

4.2.2 Competition

As discussed above, there is a belief among market participants that the regulators should not define or interfere with market structure. Regulators should establish an environment that allows for competition among markets, so that investors will have choices. Market theory suggests that allowing such competition will stimulate innovation and encourage markets to offer better features and services to their members and subscribers.

Because participants in traditional exchange markets have an incentive to resist technology and innovation that might decrease their intermediary power, regulators must allow competition so that innovators can develop and move forward. Observers of US markets, which have allowed competing ATSs to operate for some time, have concluded that competition between markets has been beneficial; as noted by the SEC in its Market 2000 Report, "competition between market centres provides many benefits for the users of the markets."³¹

³¹ SEC Market 2000 Report

4.2.3 Consolidation

In the Market 2000 Report, the SEC put forth the view that the effects of fragmentation could be offset by appropriate consolidation of the markets. Consolidation of multiple markets is critical to preserving an effective price discovery mechanism across competing systems. Consolidation of the markets consists of two primary functions: data consolidation and market integration.

All participants in the markets must have full and complete access to information about the markets. Data consolidation will ensure that information about activity in all systems is available to any participant. This includes pre-trade information (the volume and price of bids and offers in each market) and post-trade information (the record of all trades that have taken place in all markets).

In addition, all participants must have equal access to the best price for execution across all markets. Market integration will ensure that participants who enter an order into one system will have access to the best price available in any system at the time of execution.

The CSA believe that it is critical to provide for a Consolidated Canadian Market if ATSs are allowed to operate in competition with traditional market structures.

4.2.4 Regulation of ATSs

If ATSs are to operate in an environment where they are not required to be members of an existing exchange, as they are now, and are allowed to operate markets that compete with exchanges, then they must also be regulated in some fashion. In today’s markets, participants are subject to both member regulation and market regulation. Member regulation will typically include registration of participants, certification and oversight of sales activities. Market regulation will include several related functions: establishing rules regarding trading practice, surveillance and enforcement.

After considerable discussion on this topic, most observers believe that the time has come for a suitable framework to be developed which will include ATSs within an appropriate regulatory framework but will not force them to be regulated by the very systems against which they compete. A recent study carried out for The Toronto Stock Exchange at the University of Toronto, concluded, "it will be hard for the Exchange to be seen simultaneously as an independent regulator of, and a vigorous competitor to, proprietary trading systems"³².

³² Professors Daniels, Trebilcock, Halpern and Macey, The Toronto Stock Exchange and the Public Interest: A Paradigm in Transition, University of Toronto, 1998, Page 135

However, it is also accepted that ATSs must be subject to oversight and should not be allowed to operate in competition with the exchanges outside of the self-regulatory structure.

The matter of how the regulation of ATSs should be carried out becomes critical. If ATSs are to be somewhat independent of the exchanges, then another SRO must regulate them. In Canada, at this time, the IDA performs member regulation. However, the IDA does not perform market regulation and there is no body independent of the exchanges that performs market regulation. The CSA is of the view that that market regulation must be performed by an entity that has the knowledge and expertise to provide effective oversight and is recognized to perform that function by the securities regulators.

In the United States, ATSs are able to register as dealers subject to oversight by NASD-R. NASD-R is the regulatory arm of the NASD and, while the same parent corporation that owns and operates the NASDAQ stock market owns it, the regulatory arm is a separate entity that has its own board of governors and management team. Clearly, in Canada, it would be preferable to have an independent self-regulatory organization ("SRO") that could provide both member regulation and market regulation.

As stated previously, market regulation consists of three functions: establishing rules, surveillance and enforcement of those rules. If there is to be fair and consistent competition between alternative markets and traditional exchanges, then the regulators must establish framework rules. Until there is an alternative independent choice for regulation in Canada, surveillance and enforcement of the market regulatory framework will be carried out by the SRO’s that have been recognized to perform that function. To deal with competitive issues, however, ATSs will be permitted to choose the SRO that will perform their market regulation function. Allowing ATSs the opportunity to choose also gives the exchanges an opportunity to compete based on services and to recapture some of the costs they incur as self-regulatory organizations.

4.3 Specific Issues in the Canadian Marke

4.3.1 Concentration

A few large firms dominate the Canadian securities market. In particular, the five bank-owned full-service brokerages account for over 50% of trading volumes and the top 10 firms represent over 80% of trading volumes. This concentration raises concerns over the ability of a small number of firms to impact our capital markets. Specifically, in relation to alternative trading systems, market observers have expressed concerns about the effect on the market if one or more large dealers set up their own ATS system for their customers and remove their order flow from the exchanges. In order to decrease the possibility of dealers finding this an attractive option, they have suggested that ATSs be permitted to act as agents only and not be allowed to trade on a principal basis with their own customers.

4.3.2 Internal Fragmentation and Reduced Liquidity

For the most part, external fragmentation (as defined above) in Canada has been held off by the exchanges' insistence that alternative markets not be allowed to operate because they would cause fragmentation in our relatively small market.

Internal fragmentation, however, is a problem in our market. Internal fragmentation occurs when all orders are not committed to a central location so that they are not included in the price discovery process and buyers and sellers do not all have the opportunity to interact with all orders.

Over the past ten years, the TSE has seen a decline in the relative percentage of orders entered into the electronic book and a gradual but steady increase in orders which are matched off-exchange and then "printed" on the exchange. Although these trades are included in the total volumes reported for the exchange, they do not contribute to the liquidity of the market. When the majority of orders are matched outside of the electronic book, this means that a relatively small number of orders are setting the bid/ask price level and being used for price determination for off-exchange order matches. The causes of this migration of orders away from the exchange are many, but they have been directly influenced by changes in TSE trading rules over the past 10 years. TSE rule changes have led directly to "upstairs trading" of block orders and to internalization of retail order flows and therefore internal fragmentation.

As institutional participation in the market has grown, institutions have found it increasingly difficult to match large blocks of stock. Institutions have also been concerned about showing the full size of their orders and suffering the negative effects of market impact when others are aware of their intentions to purchase or liquidate a large block. As a result, specialized institutional trading desks developed the practice in the 1980’s of advertising their large orders ("shopping blocks") in order to put together large block crosses, thus earning the broker two commissions when he was able to put together a match. In addition, dealers were called upon frequently to use their own capital to supply liquidity for large trades. TSE rules have evolved over time to accommodate crosses³³

³³ Prior to 1970, a put-through was required to give up 15% of the volume to orders on the bid or offer.

and customer-principal trades³⁴.

³⁴ In 1975, client-principal trades were only allowed over $400,000. The rule was amended in 1977 to allow trades over $100,000, subject to displacement and client priority. In 1984, the dollar amount restriction was removed as long as the client received price improvement; in 1985, client principal trades were allowed and only needed to equal the bid-offer.

Critics of the rules have said that TSE rules do not protect orders in the market and that they specifically encourage dealers to make deals off-exchange and to use the exchange merely to "print trades".³⁵

³⁵ This criticism was noted in a survey of US institutions regarding trading practices in Canada in the TSE Special Committee Report on Fragmentation.

The lack of liquidity in the exchange book has been further impacted by the large retail houses internalising their order flow and acting as a principal on trades with their own customers. Changes to the TSE client principal trade rule in 1985 meant that dealers could buy from their customers at the bid and sell to them at the offer, thus taking the spread. This practice was further encouraged when the TSE implemented changes to accommodate Order Management Systems, which then enabled member firms to manage their order flow and route orders away from the exchange to their trading desks. The SC Report on Fragmentation cited this as one of the principal causes of reduced order flow to the exchange and recommended changes to the client-principal trade rules.³⁶

³⁶ The Report recommended that dealers be required to immediately enter orders of 1200 shares or less to the electronic book and that client-principal trades of 5000 or less only be allowed when the client received a price better than the existing bid/offer. These changes were adopted in 1998.

The SC Report expressed concern that "internalization negatively impacts market quality" and that "in the long run, the continuous pursuit of parochial interests by member firms could act to the detriment of the TSE overall".³⁷

³⁷ TSE Report of the Special Committee on Fragmentation, Page 75.

Section 5: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

5.1 Demutualization

In October of 1998, The Toronto Stock Exchange published its "Blueprint for Success", outlining an analysis of the challenges and threats facing it as Canada’s senior equities exchange. The paper outlined a new strategic direction for the TSE, recommending specifically that the exchange adopt a new ownership and governance structure. This new structure would see a restructuring of the member-owned TSE into a shareholder-owned, for-profit corporation, which would be governed by a Board of Directors, composed of increased representation from outside the investment dealer community.

On June 10, 1999, the Board and membership of the TSE voted to proceed with demutualization. This decision reflects the exchange’s changing vision and its response to increasing competition from other markets, inside and outside of Canada. It is the view of the CSA that the implementation of a new corporate structure will not by itself change the nature of the TSE’s operation. The TSE will continue to perform key functions that are intrinsic to operating as an exchange. As a result, the CSA believes that the TSE should continue to be regulated as an exchange and accept its public interest mandate.

5.2 Exchange Restructuring

In March 1999, The Toronto, Montreal, Alberta and Vancouver Exchanges signed a memorandum of Agreement to restructure exchange activities along lines of market specialization. Under terms of the agreement, the TSE would become the senior equities market in Canada, the ME would assume responsibility for the derivatives market, and the ASE and VSE would merge to form a new Canadian junior market which would include junior issues listed on the ME and the Canadian Dealing Network ("CDN"). The intent of the restructuring by the exchanges was to allow each exchange to focus on core strengths, to minimize duplication of investments in infrastructure and services, to streamline activities for member firms and to allow the exchanges to compete more effectively in a rapidly changing environment.

If competition between exchanges is reduced, then investors will face fewer choices than they have today. It becomes even more important that ATSs be allowed to operate independently of exchanges and to offer competitive services and markets, to maintain investor choice.

Under the restructuring proposal, consolidation of markets, in fact, becomes easier since each ATS will only have to connect to the principal exchange for the securities it wishes to trade. Exchanges themselves will not have to connect to other exchange markets for order integration, as they would have for interlisted issues.

The more complex issue becomes that of regulatory oversight. Until there is an independent SRO who could perform market regulation in Canada, ATSs will have to contract with an existing exchange to perform that function. It clearly would be preferable for ATSs to have several alternatives in the choice of regulation. On the other hand, it is also important that the SRO chosen to perform regulation have the experience and knowledge to effectively perform that function. The exchanges have expressed the view that ATSs should be required to contact with the exchange where issues are listed. This would mean, for example, that an ATS trading junior issues would be required to contract with the new junior exchange rather than being able to choose either the TSE or the ME as an alternative. The question becomes more complex when one considers that an ATS may wish to trade a variety of issues. If an ATS were trading both junior and senior equities, would it be required to have market regulation performed by both the junior and senior equity exchanges or by only one? The key issue for regulators, in a restructured environment, is that ATSs must contract with an SRO who is recognized and qualified to perform the regulation function, but exchanges who are operating competing marketplaces must not be allowed to use their regulatory power to hinder fair competition.

The CSA is reviewing the implications of the exchange restructuring proposal for National Instrument Rule 21-101 and National Instrument 23-101 and will continue to amend the instruments and/or policies, as required, when further detailed plans are set forth by the exchanges and when the proposal has received all the member and regulatory approvals required.

I. Executive Summar

Alternative Trading Systems ('ATSs') are electronic marketplaces which offer participants access to new types of markets, based on technology. In order to take advantage of the features and services offered by these new marketplaces, it is necessary to establish a framework which will combine them with traditional market structures and preserve the benefits of a strong centralized market system.

This discussion paper sets forth a plan for consolidating traditional marketplaces (like exchanges) with these new marketplaces to provide a consolidated Canadian market. The plan provides for the collection, consolidation and dissemination of quote and trade information. Further, it proposes to integrate all markets in order that buyers and sellers have access to the best price available at time of execution.

All marketplaces would be required to provide quotation information regarding displayed orders and transaction information for all securities traded in their system to a Data Consolidator. The Data Consolidator will be a third party facilitator, chosen by the Canadian Securities Administrators ('CSA') as a result of a Request For Proposal (RFP). The Data Consolidator will distribute a consolidated data feed for all markets.

Market Integration provides the facility for any buyer or seller to access the best priced order in any marketplace. The plan proposes that market integration be achieved in a staged implementation. Phase 1 would require that each ATS establish a link to the principal market of the securities traded by the ATS. For a listed security, the principal market will include any exchange on which that security is listed. Phase 2 will require that all ATSs and all exchanges be linked through a Market Integrator. The Market Integrator may be chosen through an RFP process initiated by the CSA; this function could be provided by an existing exchange, an ATS, the Date Consolidator or another third party.

After the ATS Proposal is finalized, Data Consolidation and Phase 1 Market Integration is expected to be in place during mid-year 2000 while timing for Phase 2 integration would be determined at a later date. The Consolidation Plan sets the framework for establishing a centralized market structure which combines the positive benefits of these new alternative trading systems with traditional auction markets.

II. The Consolidated Market

A. Background

Over the past decade, advances in technology have had a significant impact on the trade execution process in the securities industry. Specifically, non-exchange electronic trading systems, currently referred to as ATSs, have offered features and services not typically provided by traditional exchange systems or dealers. The rapid growth of these alternative systems indicate that market participants welcome the opportunity to access new competitive liquidity pools¹.

¹ In the United States, ATSs now account for over thirty percent of orders in NASDAQ listed securities and close to eight percent of orders in exchange listed securities. Until recently, ATSs have operated markets which were largely outside the National Market System ('NMS'). The National Market System in the US was established over 20 years ago at the direction of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Its primary objective was to provide for 'equally regulated, individual markets which are linked together to make their best prices publicly known and accessible.' Recent rule changes adopted by the SEC have modified the regulatory framework in order to better incorporate ATSs into the NMS.

The purpose of the ATS proposal is to provide a flexible framework that facilitates the establishment of competitive systems while still providing the advantages and benefits of a centralized market.

In Canada, although we do have a Consolidated Canadian Data Feed,²

² The Consolidated Canadian Data Feed (known as the CCDF) is operated by the CEG, Canadian Exchange Group, and provides a consolidated data feed of trade and quote information for the Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Alberta exchanges, as well as CDN.

the electronic linking of exchanges has not been established to provide best execution for interlisted securities. To date, ATSs trading Canadian listed securities have been allowed to operate only as members of exchanges, primarily as a result of concerns over market fragmentation. In order to provide a flexible environment that will accommodate both traditional market structures and take advantage of the benefits offered by new technologies, it is necessary to establish a plan for a consolidated Canadian marketplace.

B. Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of developing a plan to consolidate ATSs and other markets (the 'Consolidation Plan') is to provide an environment in which all markets can operate and to combine the positive benefits of competing systems while preserving the benefits of a centralized auction market.

The consolidation function consists of two principal components: data consolidation and market integration for order routing between markets. This Consolidation Plan provides for the collection, consolidation and dissemination of quotation and transaction information for all marketplaces and for the interlinkage of those marketplaces so that all buyers and sellers of a security have access to the best price for execution.

The objectives of the Consolidation Plan are:

1. To maintain the benefits of a centralized auction market.

2. To create this centralized market while requiring a minimum of superstructure to support it.

3. To enable all market participants to have full and complete access to market information.

4. To enable all market participants to have equal access to the best price available in the market.

C. Participants

The participants in the Consolidation Plan will include all marketplaces as defined in National Instrument 21-101, i.e., all exchanges and quotation and trade reporting systems recognized in the jurisdiction of the CSA and any Alternative Trading Systems, who are registered as dealers complying with National Instrument 21-101.

III. Data Consolidatio

Data consolidation ensures that all participants in the market have access to full and complete information regarding the securities that they wish to trade. It includes two primary types of information: pre-trade and post-trade.

Pre-trade information includes the total volume bid/offered at each price level for all committed, disclosed orders in all participating systems.

Post-trade information provides summary data for all transactions which have been executed on a security on any participating system. Trade details include volume, price, time and system in which the trade took place.

A. Requirements for All Marketplaces

1. Quote Information

Each marketplace will be required to transmit to the Data Consolidator one or more data feeds containing quotation information and transaction information for all securities traded in its system.

Quotation information shall include:

• the symbol of the security
• the total volume bid/offered at the best five price levels for the security

The quotation information provided for the consolidated display will not provide any specific order information such as the number of buyers or sellers or the identity of any buyer or seller. Each participating system will continue to be able to provide complete and detailed information about its order book to its own participants, in accordance with the features and specifications of its own system.

Marketplaces will be required to provide quotation information only for orders that are disclosed on their system. Systems which offer a feature to allow orders to have a reserve or undisclosed volume will not be required to display the reserve or undisclosed portion of the order. In other words, to the extent that a system discloses an order in its own system, it must also disclose the same order (or portion of order) in the Consolidated Market. ATSs will thus be able to preserve the competitive features inherent in their systems and to offer the benefits of selective anonymity to their own participants.

2. Executed Transaction Information

Transaction information will include for each transaction:

• the symbol of the eligible security
• the volume traded
• the price of the trade
• the time of the trade (accurate to seconds - e.g. 10:26:02)
• the system on which it was traded
• applicable trade markers such as late trade, special terms , etc.

3. Timeliness and Accuracy

Marketplaces will be responsible for providing data to the Data Consolidator in an accurate and timely manner.³

³ It is expected that participant systems would provide data in the manner consistent with the operation of real-time systems.

In the event of a system problem in any participant system, any trades executed that cannot be reported until after resumption of operation will be marked as 'late'.

The distribution of the consolidated data feed will not alter the rights and abilities of each marketplace to enter into agreements with subscribers for the sale and distribution of proprietary data relating to securities traded in each system's market.

B. The Data Consolidator

The Data Consolidator will receive and collect quotation and transaction information from each marketplace. The Data Consolidator will disseminate the consolidated information to market data vendors, news services and other customers in an accurate, timely and reliable manner.

1. Collection of Information

The Data Consolidator will receive information from each marketplace via a direct, high-speed computer-to-computer interface. The Data Consolidator will be responsible for determining the message protocol and the technical specifications of the data feed(s) sent by each system.

Pre-trade information will consist of a summary of total volume at each price for the top five levels of bids and offers. No information will be provided about the specific number of orders or the identity of the buyer or seller. This type of information is referred to as a 'Volume @ Price'⁴ display.

⁴ Volume @ Price is the terminology used generally to describe a display that groups all orders at a price level, indicating the total volume wanted or offered by all orders at a price level (the TSE uses the term 'Market By Price', which is a Trademark of the TSE). In Canada, the standard for Volume @ Price displays is to show the best five price levels. This matter may be further reviewed by the Governing Committee(see discussion of Governing Committee, Section III.B.6, Administration of the Data Consolidator).

Post-trade information will consist of transaction details for all trades which have taken place on the marketplace. These details include volume, price, and time of the trade.

2. Dissemination of Information

The Data Consolidator will disseminate a Consolidated Market by Price Feed to its customers including data vendors, news services, and other information services. The Data Consolidator will be entitled to enter into agreements with customers for the dissemination of quotation and transaction information according to a fee schedule set by the Governing Committee⁵.

⁵ The Governing Committee is discussed in further detail in Section III.B.6, Administration of the Data Consolidator.

A fee schedule, determined by the Governing Committee, will provide for reimbursement of data fees to each marketplace. The Data Consolidator will disseminate all information provided by the participant systems.

Each marketplace will retain the right to sell and distribute its own data feeds for information on securities in its own marketplace.

The Data Consolidator will disseminate the following information:

1. the full list of securities traded by each marketplace.
2. the total volume bid/offered at each of the best five price levels for each security traded for each marketplace.
3. all transactions that have taken place on securities reported by all marketplaces. Trade reports will include symbol, price of trade, market of execution and any appropriate trade markers such as late, correction, etc.
4. at the end of each trading day on the primary market, a closing price and closing bid/ask for each security.
5. all messages sent by the principal market related to stock status (pre-opening, open, halted) will be distributed by the Data Consolidator to its subscribers.

The Data Consolidator will be responsible for all administrative functions associated with the dissemination of data including record-keeping, billing, contracts and financial reporting.

3. Currency

The data collected and disseminated for all securities which are listed, quoted or approved by marketplaces in Canada, and which trade in Canadian dollars, will be shown in Canadian dollars by the Data Consolidator.⁶

⁶ Some securities listed in Canada trade in US dollars. These securities may be displayed in US dollars by the Data Consolidator.

All quote and trade prices provided to the Data Consolidator must reflect prices maintained in a Canadian dollar book, not merely be converted prices from a US$ book. More importantly, they cannot be prices which are already quoted and represented in another foreign system such as the National Market System ('NMS') in the US. This will mean that US systems who wish to trade Canadian listed securities for Canadian clients will quote and trade orders as part of the Canadian consolidated market. US systems who wish to operate in Canada will be required to maintain a separate Canadian book for securities listed, quoted or approved by recognized exchanges (including CDN) and to display these books in the Canadian consolidated market displays.

4. Data Display

The Data Consolidator will produce a data feed for vendors and other customers that will provide the information required for a consolidated "Volume @ Price" display, a consolidated tape, and a consolidated Previous Trades display. Vendors may also choose to develop a consolidated Time and Sales display.

Sample 'Volume @ Price' Display

EXCH 6000 * 21.45 21.50 * 10000 ATS2
ATS1 4000 * 21.40 21.55 * 3000 EXCH
EXCH 3000 * 21.40 21.55 * 2000 ATS1
ATS2 1500 * 21.40 21.60 * 5000 EXCH
EXCH 4000 * 21.35 21.65 * 6000 EXCH

Note: Bids are shown in descending order (best bid at top) on the left side of the display; offers are shown on the right side of the display in ascending order (best offer at top). Each side shows the marketplace and the total volume bid/ offered at each price level.

Sample Previous Trades Display:

EXCH 5000 21.45 11:15
ATS1 2000 21.50 11:05
ATS3 5000 21.45 11:02
EXCH 2500 21.50 11:00
EXCH 1000 21.45 10:48

Note: Trades executed in all systems would show in reverse chronological order, (most recent first) indicating the marketplace in which the trade was executed, and the volume, price and time of the trade.

No information will be provided to or displayed by vendors relating to the identity of participants in any marketplace. Specifically, pre-trade information will show only the amount of the security that is bid/offered at each price level by a system; information will not be displayed regarding either the number of orders on the bid/offer, nor the identity of the buyer or seller. Similarly, in post-trade information displays, only the identity of the system on which the trade took place will be provided, not the identity of either the buyer or seller.⁷

⁷ At the present time, on exchange and vendor systems, the broker ID of the buyer and seller is shown on pre-trade information to exchange members only and on post-trade information to all subscribers. ATSs have policies regarding the display of information that vary.

Individual marketplaces may choose their own policy regarding information shown to their own participants so that additional proprietary information will provide value to members of that particular system.

5. Operations

The Data Consolidator will be in operation on each day on which trading takes place on the principal market for a security. Quotation and transaction information will be collected and disseminated during the regular operating hours of the principal market (approximately 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST) In addition, the Data Consolidator will collect and disseminate quotation information and transaction reports at any time when another marketplace is open for trading.

During any regulatory halts on any security, it is suggested that ATSs be prohibited from trading. In the event of a regulatory halt, the Data Consolidator would then cease to disseminate information on that security until the halt has been lifted by the principal market and the security has entered a pre-opening period.

6. Administration of the Data Consolidator

The CSA will choose a third party facilitator to operate the Data Consolidator. The Data Consolidator will be supervised by a Governing Committee composed of representatives from all marketplaces and representatives appointed by the CSA including external business and technology experts. The Governing Committee will be chaired by a Chairperson appointed by the CSA and will be subject to review by the CSA.

The CSA currently expects that the Governing Committee will be responsible for oversight of matters including, but not limited to the following:

1. Implementation of the Consolidation Plan.
2. Operations of the Data Consolidator.
4. Determination of fees charged to subscribers.
5. Determination of formula used for cost-sharing and revenue-sharing.
6. Annual Reporting to the CSA.
7. Technology Specifications and Protocols.

7. Selection of the Data Consolidator

The Data Consolidator will be operated by a third party facilitator, chosen by the CSA. This Data Consolidator will be chosen from respondents to a Request For Proposal (RFP) issued by the CSA describing the functional and operational requirements for the Data Consolidator. The RFP will be publicized and distributed to all interested parties for response. Interested parties will be given 75 days to respond to the RFP. In their responses, interested parties will be asked to include detailed information about the technology that they will provide to perform the data consolidation function and the model they will use for cost recovery and revenue generation. Parties who may be perceived to have a conflict of interest will be asked to include in their response how they propose to manage any potential conflicts of interest.

The Data Consolidator will be chosen and will function as the consolidator for a period of five (5) years. The Data Consolidator's performance will be reviewed by the Governing Committee yearly and a full review of performance will be carried out by the CSA during the fifth year of the contract. Once the performance review is completed, the contract will be renewed or a new RFP issued.

IV. Market Integration

A. Staged Implementation

Market Integration means that any buyer or seller in a marketplace will have the right and the ability to access the best price offered or bid in any other marketplace, regardless of whether the buyer or seller is a participant in that system, or not. To accomplish this, each system must be able to route orders to any other marketplace's system in the consolidated market. In general, when any marketplace sends an order to another marketplace, the trade will take place on the marketplace receiving the incoming order, according to the priority rules of the receiving system.

Market integration is a complex task and raises some significant technology challenges. It is important to reward those systems that provide the best technology (assuming they also serve the best interests of the market) and not to make other systems wait for those who do not have the necessary technology. For this reason, a staged approach is preferred.

B. Phase 1: Principal Market Integration

Phase 1 integration will require any ATS who wished to operate in Canada, to establish a connection to the principal market for the securities being traded on its system. ATSs will be permitted to start operations when they have established this connection to the principal market. For listed securities, the principal market will be any of the exchanges on which the security is listed.⁸

⁸ At the time of writing, there are a number of Canadian equities which are interlisted on different markets. Should the proposed restructuring plan of the Canadian exchanges be implemented, then the Consolidation Plan will require the ATS to go to the single exchange on which a security is listed.

For other securities, the principal market will be considered to be the market which has the largest trading volume for that security in Canada. Each ATS must satisfy any better priced bids or offers on the principal market before execution of a match in its system; i.e. no trade may take place on an ATS which will 'trade through' a better priced order on the principal market. Further, the principal market willalso be required to satisfy a better bid/offer on any participating ATSs. This approach protects any firm orders that have been entered and have established a bid or offer on the principal market.

During Phase 1, integration will only be required between ATSs and the principal markets; ATSs will not be required to satisfy better bids and offers on other ATSs. While each ATS is only required to provide a connection to a principal market, any ATS may establish connections to any other ATS that it chooses.

Example:

System 'ATS1' has a buyer for 10,000 shares of XYZ at $10 and a seller for 10,000 shares of XYZ at $10. There is an offering for 2000 shares of XYZ on Exchange A, which is the principal market, at $9.95. System 'ATS1' must buy the 2000 shares offered at $9.95 on the exchange and then match the balance of 8000 shares at $10. The buyer in system 'ATS1' will have bought 2000 shares at $9.95 and 8000 shares at $10. The seller in 'ATS1' will have sold only 8000 shares at $10, since there was a seller with a better price in the principal market.

ATS systems who wish to establish a connection to a principal market will do so using the message protocol determined by the principal market.⁹

⁹ For listed securities, the current standard protocol used by the TSE, ME, VSE and ASE is the STAMP protocol.

The interconnection between ATSs and the exchange is illustrated in the diagram below titled "Market Integration - Phase 1".

Market Integration - Phase 1

(diagram removed)

2. Selection of a Market Integrator

There are several options regarding how Phase 2 integration could be implemented. In a distributed approach, each marketplace would be required to provide a connection to all other participating systems. In a centralized approach, a single integrator/consolidator could provide the interconnection between all marketplaces. In fact, both data consolidation and market integration could be provided by the same entity.

The distributed approach, where each marketplace connects to all other marketplaces, would result in substantial duplication of effort and multiple connections for all systems. The centralized approach, on the other hand, may mean establishing a new intermediary between marketplaces. It is important that a solution be chosen which is both technically sound and relatively easy to implement. The accepted solution will also very much depend on the number of participants in the consolidated market and the amount of activity which is generated between markets.

A recognized exchange or an ATS could provide the interlinkage between marketplaces to allow for access to better prices across all marketplaces. Each ATS would then have the choice of routing directly to another ATS or going through the central router system to access another ATS. In this way, all marketplaces would be interconnected for best price execution without having to create a new external structure for routing orders.

As with the selection of the Data Consolidator, there are several likely choices to provide this functionality. However, it is important to ensure that the best choice is made to provide the best technology solution and minimize any potential conflicts of interest. For this reason, an RFP may be issued to choose a third party facilitator to provide market integration functionality. The RFP would be publicized and distributed to all interested parties for response. Interested parties would be given approximately 75 days to respond. In their responses, interested parties should include detailed information about the technology that would be provided for market integration including technical specifications and protocols as well as expected response times, redundancy provisions, etc. Parties with a perceived conflict of interest would be required to include in their response how they propose to manage any potential conflict of interest. A Market Integrator would be chosen by the CSA from respondents to the RFP.

D. Response Times for Market Integration

When any marketplace sends an order to another system for execution, it should have a reasonable expectation that orders will be filled immediately. Systems which do not have the technology capacity to provide minimum response times will hinder the effective implementation of a consolidated market. For that reason, there will be a time-out allowed for response times on orders.

Any marketplace should reasonably expect to receive a response (a fill, a cancel or no fill response) to an order in under 3 seconds. If the principal market, or any other marketplace, has not responded within 3 seconds, the system may proceed with its match without compliance with the trade-through policy. It is not reasonable to slow the trade process for systems which cannot meet standards for quick and accurate response. Systems that repeatedly get "timed out" for slow response will not benefit from market consolidation to the extent that other more technically adept systems will. In addition, systems which repeatedly are unable to meet response standards will be subject to regulatory oversight and may be subject to penalties for non-compliance.

Trade-throughs may occur inadvertently, in a small percentage of trades, due to time delays in information reaching systems about better priced orders available in the consolidated market. It will be up to the parties performing market surveillance to examine message logs to determine that the better price had been established just prior to the trade through and that the system initiating the trade had not received the update prior to effecting their trade. Cross referencing of trade times, with published quote time, should be automated by the Data Consolidator; a grace period of up to 3 seconds may be allowed for any trades which had caused a trade-through to occur.

E. Clearing and Settlement

Each ATS system will be required to be a member of an exchange or to register as a dealer and be a member of an SRO, other than an exchange. An ATS that chooses not to be a member of an exchange, but is a member of the IDA, will have access to CDS and CDCC for clearing and settlement purposes. Reporting of trades done by ATSs to CDS could be done either directly by the ATS or through the Data Consolidator in a manner similar to the reporting currently done by each exchange for exchange trades. Each ATS will be responsible for delivery of information regarding trade details to its own service bureau providing clearing services with details relative to settlement instructions for their clients.

It is recommended that all marketplaces work with CDS and the appropriate clearing service bureaus to facilitate improvements to the flow of trade information from point of entry through to settlement. This is of particular importance for Straight-Through-Processing (STP). In simplest terms, STP means that all the details required to complete a transaction are attached to an order at the time of entry, resulting in automated processing of the complete transaction from initiation through clearing and settlement, without any participant having to re-enter trade details into multiple systems and then reconcile them. Under STP, all information required in the settlement of a trade is attached to an order at time of entry (or as soon as possible thereafter) so that, as the trade passes through each step of the trade process cycle, all of the appropriate information is passed with it. STP has several benefits, the most important of which is to reduce the requirements for reconciliation of data entered from separate systems and the associated errors resulting from transcribing of data from one system to another.

V. Summary

The preceding discussion outlines a consolidation plan to allow ATSs to operate effectively in Canada while preserving the benefits of a centralized market.

As noted earlier in this document, this paper has been prepared based on the existing exchange structure in Canada, with interlisted securities between exchanges. The CSA is currently reviewing any potential implications of the exchange restructuring proposal relative to the Consolidation Plan.

The Consolidation Plan describes consolidation of pre-trade and post-trade information and integration of marketplaces for access to best execution. This Plan sets the framework for a consolidated market structure and aims to achieve the following goals:

1. Maintain the benefits of a centralized auction market through a consolidated central market structure.

2. Create this centralized market structure while requiring a minimum of superstructure to support it.

3. Enable all market participants to have full and complete access to market information.

4. Enable all market participants to have equal access to the best price available in the market.