Canada: CSA announces changes in Trading Rules including a new market share threshold

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has announced its final amendments to National Instrument 23-101 Trading Rules, adjusting the order protection rule (OPR) framework to address inefficiencies and respond to market developments:

“We have seen tremendous evolution in the markets and we are making sure that regulation evolves along with it. The final amendments will provide flexibility to market participants in determining if and when to access trading on certain marketplaces, address the level of trading fees in Canada and provide a transparent process for regulatory oversight of real-time professional market data fees,” said Louis Morisset, Chair of the CSA and President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers.

Among the amendments, the CSA decided to set the market share threshold at 2.5 percent of the adjusted volume and value traded equally weighted over a one-year period. A change in guidance related to intentional order processing delays or speed bumps, data fees methodology and a cap on active trading fees charged by marketplaces are also included in the changes originally proposed in May 2014 and should come into force on July 6, 2016, except for the market share threshold, which will come into force on October 1, 2016.