Market Regulation Services Inc. is proposing to exempt trades made due to Market Maker Obligations from the payment of its regulation fee.

RS first proposed the move back in December, and it received 17 comments on the issue. Of the comments, 13 supported the proposal and four opposed the proposal. Taking into account the comments, the board of RS approved on the change on February 12.

It will: exempt trades made pursuant to Market Maker Obligations from the payment of the regulation fee; recover the cost of providing the exemption by increasing the fee to other participants; and make the exemption effective as soon as practicable following regulatory approval.

In approving the Proposal, the board stated that the appropriateness of the exemption should be reviewed: annually as part of the review of the Regulation Fee Model; and upon RS being retained as the regulation services provider by any marketplace that will not have a market making system.

If the proposal is implemented, all trades made in stocks of assigned responsibility on the TSX by Registered Traders and Specialists and on the TSX Venture Exchange by Odd Lot Dealers in accordance with their Market Maker Obligations would be exempt from the payment of the fee.

It is estimated that the exemption would increase fees by approximately 4.2% on participants that are not a specialist or an Odd Lot Dealer and has no RTs.