Canadian custodians have set themselves the goal of achieving 100% same day matching by July 2007.
In October 2004, the Canadian Capital Markets Association (CCMA) realigned its priorities to focus on achieving institutional trade-date matching (agreeing to the details of a trade, the day the trade is executed).
This decision was partly influenced by the Canadian Securities Administrators’ proposed National Instrument 24-101 Post-Trade Matching and Settlement, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s concept release on Securities Transactions Settlement.
“Achieving institutional trade-date matching requires careful planning, commitment and the successful execution of a number of steps to be undertaken by industry participants,” says Gerry O’Mahoney, Chair of the CCMA. “Our 100% end goal date of July 2007 supports a phased-in approach to matching institutional trades on trade date. This is similar to what is being advocated by the US Securities Industry Association.”
A series of industry target dates and milestones have been identified by the CCMA, which will advance Canada’s capital markets over a reasonable period of time. These dates were validated by numerous industry representatives and are deemed reasonable and achievable.
The CCMA anticipates that the regulators, self-regulatory organizations and others will draft a set of consistent common rules in support of institutional trade-date matching, which will galvanize the various industry participants to focus on one congruent goal. The CCMA will monitor the industry’s progress and formulate a reporting process that clearly defines the industry’s progress towards achieving 100% institutional trade-date matching by July 2007.