Canada’s new independent national market regulator, Market Regulation Services Inc. takes over responsibility for securities market regulation effective today.

RS is charged with ensuring a fair and orderly marketplace for all equity trading that occurs in Canada. Its mandate is to foster investor confidence in the Canadian securities market and to safeguard investor protection through the administration, interpretation and enforcement of a common set of trading rules consistently in all Canadian markets .

RS is jointly owned by the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Investment Dealers Association, but is required to operate independently and at arms length from both.

RS is recognized as a self-regulatory organization in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec

RS was formed when the TSE demutualized in 2000, to separate its regulatory functions from its for-profit stock exchange business to ensure customers that our regulatory services would be provided without conflict of interest.

RS oversees the regulation of market participants and has regulatory jurisdiction over the trading activities of all participants that buy or sell securities over exchanges, quotation and trade reporting systems, alternative trading systems that choose to retain its regulatory services.

It was was recently recognized by the country’s securities commissions to act in a national market regulation capacity.

Its operational departments include: Investigations and Enforcement, Market Surveillance, and Regulatory and Market Policy. RS investigates market irregularities, complaints and ensures trading compliance with market rules, policies and securities laws.

The initial 11-member board of directors includes two representatives each from the TSE and IDA, a member jointly appointed by the TSE and IDA to represent the junior markets and five independent members, including one specifically advising the board on ATS trends and concerns. It has offices in Toronto and Vancouver.

Bill Moriarty, managing director, co-head, Capital Markets Services, RBC Dominion Securities Inc., will serve as chairman of the board of RS. Retired broker, J. Charles Caty, will serve as vice chairman.

Other board members include: TSE president and CEO Barbara Stymiest; Tom Atkinson, president & CEO, RS; Paul Bates, president & CEO, Charles Schwab Canada; Luc Bertrand, president & CEO, Bourse de Montreal; Ian Brown, senior managing director, Raymond James Ltd.; Eric Kirzner, professor of finance, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto; Mark Madoff, director of listed trading, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC; Joseph Oliver, president & CEO, IDA; and Kathryn Perry, director, Equities, Investment Management Division, Alberta Revenue.