As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce regulatory burdens, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is dropping certain stock exchange requirements.
In a notice, the OSC said it has revised the recognition orders of various exchanges, including TMX Group Ltd.’s markets, Neo Exchange Inc., CNSX Markets Inc., and Nasdaq CXC Ltd., to eliminate “unduly burdensome and duplicative regulatory requirements.”
The OSC said the changes are intended to reduce regulatory burden by “streamlining reporting and other requirements that do not sufficiently support the commission’s oversight of the exchanges, eliminating requirements duplicated by the requirements for marketplaces [in its rules], and eliminating unnecessary constraints on the operations of the exchanges.”
Among other things, the regulator has dropped certain conditions imposed on the significant shareholders of exchanges, streamlined financial reporting and financial viability requirements, and eliminated certain pre-approval requirements (involving changes to cost allocation models, reorganizations and outsourcing arrangements).
The commission said it also varied its requirements for the various alternative trading systems (ATSs) so they match recent changes to the marketplace rules, streamlining reporting requirements for marketplaces and information processors.
The changes take effect Sept. 14.