The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) announced June 4 that the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has expanded the regulator’s role as information processor of debt securities, to include information processing of government debt securities, in addition to its current role as information processor for corporate debt securities.

Providing public information about all corporate debt trades on the secondary market by all IIROC-regulated investment firms since July 2016, the CSA will require, going forward, that any person or company that executes transactions in corporate or government debt securities provide information about their trades to IIROC. “Mandatory post-trade transparency is being extended to apply to all dealers, marketplaces, interdealer bond brokers and banks listed in schedules of the Bank Act (Canada).

Beginning August 31, 2020 IIROC will publish post-trading information for trades by dealers that are currently subject to IIROC Rule 2800C, and by banks that are already reporting the corporate and government debt securities transactions to IIROC. Effective May 31, 2021, banks and any other non-IIROC dealers that do not currently report any corporate or government debt transactions to IIROC, will be required to begin reporting their transactions to the regulator.

“We thank the CSA for expanding IIROC’s information processor role to include government debt,” says IIROC’s president and CEO, Andrew Kriegler. “In support of our mandate to protect investors and the integrity of Canada’s capital markets, we believe that providing free, comprehensive information on debt securities trading gives all market participants enhanced transparency and access to information that will improve their investment decisions.”