TSX Group CEO Richard Nesbitt addressed the TSX Group’s focus on efficiency, speaking to a luncheon audience in Halifax today.

TSX Group’s success and continually lowering costs, Nesbitt said, are owed to its concentration on market synergies. He alluded to the acquisition of TSX Venture Exchange, formerly CDNX, which left the TSX with two trading systems and 740 people. “Now we coordinate for two equity markets, and employ just over 500 people between those exchanges and Natural Gas Exchange,” said Nesbitt.

Since 1999, TSX Group’s total fees per transaction are down from $3.81 to $1.89 or, in percentages, costs have been falling at a cumulative rate of 16% per year. Meanwhile, since 2000, trading volumes are up by half and transactions are up 23%, he noted.

He also spoke to the luncheon, organized by Dalhousie University, of Nova Scotia’s strong equity culture and the Capital Pool Company Program. Nova Scotia is the first Atlantic province to approve the CPC Program, designed to help the TSX Venture Exchange better serve entrepreneurs and investors.