Securities regulators have approved amendments to Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) rules that require firms that leave the self-regulatory organization (SRO) to still pay their membership fees on the way out the door, IIROC announced on Thursday.

The amendments require firms that are resigning, suspended, terminated, or surrendering their registration to still pay their IIROC fees. They are effective immediately.

“The primary objective of the amendments is to promote a fair and equitable regulatory environment which recognizes that a [dealer’s] share of fees should be based on its usage or consumption of IIROC’s regulatory services,” IIROC says in a notice.

The amendments oblige resigning, suspended, terminated and surrendering firms to make full payment of the annual fees for the entire fiscal year in which the exit from the SRO becomes effective, the notice explains.

However, firms that resign, or are suspended or terminated would be eligible for a fee reduction, requiring them to only pay up until the end of the fiscal quarter when certain conditions are met, including that all of their accounts have been transferred to a new dealer, and that they are no longer employing any reps.

Dealers that surrender their membership will not be eligible for a fee reduction.