The Canadian Securities Administrators have made a series of amendments to their trading rules.

Earlier this year, the regulators published proposed amendments to the ATS rules for comment. “After considering the comments, we have decided to withdraw some of the proposed amendments and to make a change to existing provisions of the ATS Rules,” it notes.

The CSA says that it believes that the level of transparency in the government fixed income market has increased, and it expects that this trend will continue. “However, it is unclear whether the market has achieved an optimal level of transparency at this time or will achieve this level absent some mandatory transparency. As a result, we will continue to monitor the fixed income market and will continue to consult with industry participants and other regulators and stakeholders to determine whether regulation and guidance will be needed in the future,” it says. In the meantime, it extends the exemption from the mandatory transparency requirements until December 31, 2011.

As for corporate debt, the CSA is not introducing additional requirements for pre-trade transparency for corporate fixed income securities. “In addition, we believe that the information processor should have some flexibility, subject to regulatory oversight, regarding the information that should be reported and displayed, and whether this information would include pre-trade data for corporate fixed income securities,” it adds.

The CSA also indicates that the process for designating benchmark corporate debt securities has been generally adequate, and has resulted in a substantial increase in the number of corporate fixed income securities reported to the information processor over time. “We will closely monitor this process and have added a new requirement that the information processor must report the process and criteria for selection of fixed income securities to the securities regulators,” it says.

The CSA also clarifies its expectations for firms in fulfilling their “best execution” obligations.

As for the possibility of appointing an information processor for equity securities, the CSA reports that it has received a number of applications and are currently reviewing them. “We expect to make a decision by April 30, 2007 regarding whether any entity has been accepted as an information processor,” it says.