Liquidnet Canada Inc. announced that it has been approved by the Ontario Securities Commission to trade Canadian equities.

The firm says that this approval clears the way for Liquidnet’s institutional member firms worldwide to start trading Canadian equities beginning in the fourth quarter of 2006.

“Receiving OSC approval is a major milestone for Liquidnet Canada. We’ve been working diligently towards this goal since we opened our Canadian operations in 2004,” said Robert Young, managing director of Liquidnet Canada. “Canada is the seventh-largest equities market in the world, and 30% of our nearly 350 global members have Canadian equity assets under management. Having Canadian equities on the Liquidnet system is an important step towards Liquidnet becoming a true global marketplace.”

Liquidnet launched its Canadian operations in Ontario on July 27, 2004, where Liquidnet Canada is an approved investment dealer and ATS. It is also approved as an investment dealer and ATS in Quebec and British Columba.

“The equity markets have seen unparalleled moves toward globalization recently, and Liquidnet’s goal is to provide our members with the largest natural pool of global liquidity in the industry, while making it cheaper and easier for them to trade,” said Seth Merrin, Liquidnet’s CEO. “Through Liquidnet, a buy-side firm in France, for example, will be able to trade a million shares of an Italian stock with a member in Canada. That is a global institutional marketplace.”

“Liquidnet has been an increasingly important trading venue for our U.S. order flow, and we’re optimistic about the prospects of Liquidnet’s new Canadian market,” said Keith Watson, vice president of Phillips, Hager and North.