Timber Hill Canada to abandon IIROC membership

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has posted a brief notice on its website concerning Timber Hill Canada Company.

In the notice, published on September 20, 2019, IIROC says it has been informed that Timber Hill Canada Company intends to resign its membership. The resignation process has been initiated and Members will be informed of the effective date of resignation.

Timber Hill Canada, formed in 1998, is listed as an operating subsidiary of Interactive Brokers Group. Interactive Brokers conducts its market making business principally through its Timber Hill subsidiaries.

In March 2017, Interactive Brokers announced its intention to discontinue its options market making activities globally. Back then, Thomas Peterffy explained that “Today retail order-flow is purchased by large order internalizers and joining them would represent a conflict we do not wish to have. On the other hand, providing liquidity to sophisticated, professional synthesizers of short-term fundamental, technical and big data is not a profitable activity”.

Additionally, in the end of September 2017, Interactive Brokers completed the transfer of its U.S. options market making operations to Two Sigma Securities, LLC. The US options market-making business of Interactive Brokers used to be conducted by its Timber Hill affiliate. Upon completing the acquisition, TSS assumed about 1,300 exchange specialist assignments previously operated by Timber Hill.

Interactive Brokers also exited the majority of its market making activities outside of the United States by December 31, 2017.