The North American Securities Administrators Association is seeking to expand its secondary market trading exemption to include TSX Venture exchange listings.

The NASAA Trading and Exchanges Project Group has issued a notice seeking public comment, in which it recommends that the existing NASAA Model Secondary Market Trading Exemption for Qualifying Canadian Securities be expanded to include the TSX Venture Exchange. Currently, the NASAA Model Exemption provides secondary market trading exemption status only for securities listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The project group’s report discusses the regulatory and investor protection bases for expanding the NASAA Model Exemption. The report also includes three annexes, which reproduce TSX Venture’s listing application, listing agreement and listing criteria.

The comment period will remain open for 30 days (until September 16, 2004).