Amendments to the trading rules have been approved in Ontario, and will take effect at the end of the year.

The OSC Bulletin reports that on December 14, the Minister of Government Services approved amendments to the ATS rules, which were proposed earlier this year. The amendments will come into force in Ontario on December 29.

Meanwhile, in Saskatchewan, the director of the Saskatchewan Financial Services Commission issued an order providing exemptions in line with the trading rules. It notes that the Canadian Securities Administrators are proposing amendments that, among other things, extend information transparency relief and electronic audit trail relief.

“The amendments will come into force in Ontario and other provinces and territories in Canada on January 1, 2007,” it says. The SFSC has asked the minister to approve the proposed amendments. “However, it is not expected that the minister will approve the amendments and they will come into force by January 1, 2007,” it says.

The order provides interim relief from: the information transparency requirements for marketplaces and inter-dealer bond brokers; and, the electronic record keeping requirements for dealers and inter-dealer bond brokers until the amendments come into force.