Nasdaq applying for Canadian exchange
Nasdaq Inc. said Thursday it has applied to operate an exchange in Canada, a move that could bring foreign competition to a market currently dominated by the TMX Group, putting new pressure on the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Nasdaq Canada and its parent company Ensoleillement Inc. have applied for recognition as exchanges in Canada, starting the clock on a 30-day comment period to close on Nov. 13, according to a posting on the Ontario Securities Exchange website.
The Nasdaq application comes more than a year after the company completed its acquisition of Chi-X Canada, an alternative trading system for the Toronto Stock Exchange, in February 2016. Nasdaq Canada currently operates three equity trading facilities in Ontario, as well as NFI, a fixed income facility that allows permitted clients to trade U.S. treasuries on a U.S.-based alternative trading system (ATS).
It says in its application that its Canadian units act as alternative trading platforms for TMX’s Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange listings, with 66 subscribers and trading offered in 4,100 securities.
“Nasdaq Canada will transition its market operations from those of an ATS to those of an exchange, with no substantial changes to its current trading platform or operations,” it says in its application.
“Functionality currently in place to support the Nasdaq ATS trading platform will continue to be available after the recognition date . ... Nasdaq Canada will operate a continuous auction market Monday through Friday, excluding Canadian banking holidays.”
Nasdaq is not currently proposing to list issuers’ securities and, if it decides to do so later, its listing rules would have to be reviewed, published for comment and presented to the commission for approval.
Richard Carleton, CEO of the alternative Canadian Securities Exchange - one of the few existing competitors to the TSX - said he doesn’t think much will change in the short term because Nasdaq is not initially applying to provide listing services.
“With their apparent decision not to pursue listings at this time, it’s not clear that there will be an immediate impact on the competitive landscape for trading services,” he said in an email on Thursday.
“They are a well-respected international exchange operator; as time goes on we would expect to see an even more competitive market.”
Environmental groups say what is believed to be the first shipment of genetically modified salmon in Canada likely ended up on the plates of Quebec consumers.
An investigation by three groups found that 4.5 metric tonnes of the genetically modified fillets were shipped from Panama to Quebec. They used federal government import statistics to match claims by U.S.-based company AquaBounty Technologies it sold the product between April and June of this year.
Panama is the only place the company produces genetically
■ modified salmon.
Thibault Rehn of Montreal group Vigilance OGM says it’s unclear who ended up purchasing the salmon as most major grocery stores told the groups they weren’t selling the fillets at their seafood counters.
Environmental groups say consumers have a right to know what they are eating.
Health Canada doesn’t require labelling on genetically modified food, saying the items have been assessed for safety and nutritional standards. AquaBounty, which has a production plant in P.E.I., has not said where the salmon was sold.