Institutional brokerage firm Toll Cross Securities Inc. is seeking to resign from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).

IIROC said Thursday it has been informed that Toll Cross, which describes itself as “a full service institutional investment brokerage firm” focused on small- and mid-cap companies, intends to resign its membership in the self-regulatory organization. It reports that the resignation process has begun, and the SRO will announce when the resignation is to take effect.

The small cap market has been under increasing pressure in the past couple of years, and this weakness is also spilling over to the brokerage firms that focus on these companies. The Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) has repeatedly warned about the shortage of available equity capital for small cap companies, and it has called on the federal government to consider tax measures designed to stimulate the flow of capital to startups.