The British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario securities commissions have approved the acquisition of the Canadian Venture Exchange Inc. by the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Closing of the transaction is expected to occur tomorrow, August 1.

“This is a great day for Canada’s capital markets,” said Barbara Stymiest, president and CEO of the TSE. “We’re thrilled and excited about moving ahead with new initiatives aimed at developing a stronger Canadian capital market, containing separate junior and senior exchanges which will operate on a complementary and co-ordinated basis, with enhanced international profile.”

In connection with the approvals, the Alberta Securities Commission and BC Securities Commission imposed conditions on CDNX and obtained commitments from its new owner, the TSE.

“These conditions and commitments are intended to ensure that CDNX continues to foster a vibrant junior capital market for investors and issuers in Alberta and British Columbia,” said BCSC Chair Doug Hyndman.

“Because CDNX will be controlled by the TSE, we thought it was also important to receive assurances from the TSE about the continued operations of CDNX and to obtain information about the on-going financial condition and ownership of the TSE,” added ASC Chair Stephen Sibold.

Key conditions and commitments include:

  • CDNX cannot make significant changes to the services and functions provided through its Vancouver and Calgary offices without prior approval from the ASC and BCSC;
  • The CDNX/TSE board will have significant representation — 25% — from persons with expertise in the Canadian public venture capital market;
  • The TSE will have an advisory board with expertise in the Canadian public venture capital market that will be responsible for advising and making recommendations to the TSE board regarding that market;
  • The TSE will allocate sufficient financial resources to ensure that CDNX can carry out its functions as an exchange; and
  • The TSE cannot discontinue or sell the operations of CDNX without providing significant advance notice to the ASC and BCSC.