TSX CEO urges PM to discuss adding securities trading to free trade agreement
Canadian Business Online | 13 June 2006
TSX CEO urges PM to discuss adding securities trading to free trade agreement
OTTAWA (CP) - The head of Canada’s largest stock exchange wants Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss the possibility of adding securities trading to the North American Free Trade Agreement when he meets with U.S. President George W. Bush next month.
TSX Group chief executive Richard Nesbitt told the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Ottawa that the two leaders should "kick-start" further discussions between regulators in Canada and the United States.
In prepared remarks, Nesbitt proposed a single North American securities market in which the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq market and other U.S. stock exchanges could compete in Canada under U.S. rules and the TSX Group’s exchanges could compete in the U.S. under Canadian rules.
"Such an arrangement should also include provisions that allow for a greater sharing of enforcement information and for rationalizing so that both American and Canadian enforcement officials can use their resources more effectively," Nesbitt said.
"The purpose of such provisions is to eliminate the border as a hiding place for the rascals that dwell on the fringes of the business in both countries."
Harper and Bush are to meet in Washington on July 6.
The prime minister has said he has a number of key concerns he wants to raise when he sits down with Bush, including border security and trade.
The TSX Group operates Canada’s main stock markets — the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange — as well as the Natural Gas Exchange, which trades natural gas and electricity contracts.
Nesbitt’s remarks come as the debate continues about the possibility of a single regulator in Canada.
A report last week by a panel set up by the Ontario government to recommend a model for a single regulator suggested the federal government and the provinces create a Canadian Securities Commission, with checks and balances to prevent domination by any single jurisdiction.
However, provincial governments — led by Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia — have resisted the idea of a single regulator, fearing Ontario would dominate, and instead offered a so-called passport system.
Under the passport system, provincial securities commissions widely accept each other’s rules and enforcement decisions, but Purdy Crawford, a corporate lawyer and businessman who headed the panel, said a national commission would provide a lower cost of raising capital and more responsive policy development and enforcement.
