The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced Thursday it is adopting revisions to its rules for institutional trade matching and settlement that will enable the Canadian industry to move from T+3 to T+2 settlement in lock step with the U.S. markets on Sept. 5.
The amendments, which will apply to dealers, advisors, clearing agencies and matching utilities, will support the transition to T+2 for equity and long-term debt market trades, the CSA says in a statement.
The CSA also published proposed amendments that aim to shorten the settlement cycle for conventional mutual funds to T+2.
“Canadian securities regulators are committed to facilitating a smooth transition to the T+2 settlement cycle and to ensuring consistency across the markets by applying the shorter settlement cycle to all securities, including mutual funds,” says Louis Morisset, chairman of the CSA and president and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers.
Comments on the proposed amendments to the mutual fund rules are due by July 26, and the CSA says that it aims to publish final amendments in late summer. It’s expected that the revisions announced today will take effect on Sept. 5, pending ministerial approval in certain provinces.
If the U.S. markets adjust their transition date, the CSA’s revisions allow for the effective date to be extended in order to match any delay of the U.S. transition.
Additionally, the CSA indicates that it will publish a paper later this year addressing issues that were raised in a consultation paper that was published in August 2016 to consider both the revisions being adopted and possible additional new measures to enhance settlement discipline and mitigate potential risk of increased settlement fails in a T+2 environment.
“We do not propose to implement at this time any additional measures arising from the consultation paper to prepare for the move to T+2 as a result of the feedback received,” the CSA says, and the analysis published later this year will explain the CSA’s views in this area.