The Ontario Securities Commission has approved amendments to the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange, allowing it to implement a new Market-On-Close system.

The proposed amendments were initially published on June 28, 2002. And, revised proposed amendments were published on November 22, 2002. Now, the OSC has approved the amendments, published a summary of comments received, and the response of the TSX.

Some changes have been made to the amendments since the publication on November 22. Certain minor amendments to the proposed rules were made to provide greater detail regarding the operation of the MOC system, as well as to reflect certain comments received during the comment period.

The commenters list includes: Barclays Global Investors, BMO Nesbitt Burns, CDP Capital, Canadian Securities Traders Association, Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan, ITG Canada, Market Regulation Services Inc., Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, RBC Capital Markets, Registered Traders’ Group, Scotia Capital, TD Asset Management Inc. and TD Newcrest Inc.

The TSX says it believes that the adoption of a MOC facility is key to establishing an accessible, fair, and efficient method of closing at TSX. It believes that the implementation of the MOC facility is key to ensuring that market participants are offered the trading capabilities that are available in other global marketplaces, and to assist them in achieving best execution standards for their clients. And, it believes that the revised MOC facility will significantly reduce volatility at the close and broaden the participation of market participants in trading at the close.

TSX plans to implement the MOC facility using a phased-in approach. Only the S&P TSX 60 securities will initially be MOC eligible. In addition, TSX intends to review the operation of the MOC facility on a periodic ongoing basis to assess the implementation of possible enhancements to the MOC Ssstem.