The Ontario Securities Commission is seeking comments on changes to the trading rules that concern firms and traders making “off-marketplace” trades.

The board of Market Regulation Services Inc. has approved a series of amendments to the Universal Market Integrity Rules concerning the ability of firms and “Access Persons” to conduct trades of listed securities other than by the entry of orders on a marketplace.

In particular, the amendments would require a brokerage firm, when handling a principal or non-client order, to make reasonable efforts to fill better-priced orders on marketplaces prior to executing a trade at an inferior price in a transaction undertaken other than on a Canadian marketplace.

The amendments would impose a similar obligation on “Access Persons” when that person is trading directly and the order is not being handled by a registered dealer. In the case of large block trades, the amendments would provide a mechanism to cap the obligation to fill better-priced orders to the disclosed volume of better-priced orders indicated on a consolidated market display.

Currently, the rules require dealers who have access to a Canadian marketplace to trade in securities only by entering an order on a Canadian marketplace, unless the trade specifically is exempted from that requirement.

RS is proposing amendments which would mean that the execution of a principal order over-the-counter or on a foreign market at an inferior price would be considered contrary to the requirement to conduct business openly and fairly when dealing in securities that are eligible to be traded on a marketplace.

Similarly, the amendments propose that an “Access Person”, when trading directly and not through a Canadian dealer, would be under an obligation not to bypass “better-priced” orders on a marketplace.

Comments on the proposed changes are due by October 19.