Seven of Canada’s leading investment dealers today announced their intention to establish a new alternative trading system (ATS) that will increase the country’s equity trading efficiencies and make Canada more globally competitive.

“Global capital markets are changing,” said Jos Schmitt, chief executive of the new ATS initiative, in a news release. “The future strength of Canadian capital markets depends on our ability to achieve the same kind of efficiencies already being realized around the world by leveraging today’s technology. This new Canadian-driven trading platform is being designed to find those efficiencies, increasing both competitiveness and liquidity,” Schmitt added.

The new ATS project, named Alpha, will feature a continuous electronic order platform where trading will occur on a price-time priority basis. The system will be designed so that trades are made on the best market available taking into account the current exchanges in operation and other ATS’s being launched in Canada.

“Our trading system will provide a seamless integration of trading venues so that investors in Canadian equities can enjoy the benefits of trading on a best execution basis in a multiple marketplace environment,” Schmitt said.

The new ATS will be introduced under rules established by securities regulators for the competitive operation of Canadian marketplaces. National Instrument 21-101 (Marketplace Operation) was approved by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) in 2001. The rules set out comprehensive requirements for order and trade reporting, information consolidation and market integration to ensure fair and transparent trading.

The ATS is expected to launch in 2008 subject to receiving the required regulatory approvals.

The dealers include: BMO Capital Markets, Canaccord Capital Corporation, CIBC World Markets, National Bank Financial, RBC Capital Markets, Scotia Capital Inc. and TD Securities Inc. The new trading system will be open to all dealer institutions who want to join as participating organizations.