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Gold/Mining/Energy : Canadian Investment Resource Guide -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hank Stamper who wrote (536)	4/10/2000 3:35:00 PM
From: James M. Belin	Respond to of 591

TO: All Does anyone know of a website that gives you the net asset value of Canadian closed end funds on a daily basis? Thanks. Jim

To: Hank Stamper who wrote (536)	4/11/2000 7:38:00 PM
From: TFF	Respond to of 591

Discount brokers no longer need to check suitability of trades KEITH McARTHUR The Globe and Mail Tuesday, April 11, 2000 Canada's securities regulators said yesterday that discount brokerages meeting minimum requirements will no longer have to verify that each trade matches a client's needs and objectives. Eliminating the "suitability" rule could soon mean cheaper, faster trades for investors, but some observers warn that it could also leave them without protection. "Speeding up the process will be a good thing for the sophisticated investor. My concern is that the unsophisticated investor will lose any semblance of security that he might have today," said Stan Buell, president of the Small Investors Protection Agency. Brokerages began lobbying for changes to the suitability rule as early as 1983, when provincial regulators first eliminated fixed commissions for trades, paving the way for today's discount brokerages. But the rise of Internet investing, coupled with one of the greatest bull markets in history, has led to a flood of do-it-yourself investors who don't want to pay extra for a brokerage's research and advice. Discount brokerages have been largely unable to keep up with the increased demand, and have blamed the suitability rule for their failure to execute trades in a timely manner. Canada's 13 provincial and territorial securities commissions yesterday announced they will exempt brokerages from the rule as long as they only provide trade execution services. "As the retail buy side [started] to gain importance, it became clearer to us that not only did [investors] not need the protection of the suitability rule, they didn't want the protection of the suitability rule," said David Brown, chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission. Brokerages can immediately apply to regulators to be exempt from the regulation. They will need to show that they do not provide clients with research or investment advice and do not compensate dealers based on the value of trades. In situations where a parent company owns both a discount brokerage and a full-service brokerage, the exempt company must be a separate legal entity or business unit with separate letterhead, accounts and representatives. Discount brokerages roundly applauded the announcement yesterday, saying it will mean faster, and maybe even cheaper, trades. "This is a terrific thing not only for the industry but also for self-directed investors," said John See, president of discount brokerage TD Waterhouse. Mr. Brown said that while the rule change is regulatory in nature, it could also have legal implications. "The courts have said that a broker who has a suitability obligation may also have a fiduciary obligation to the customer to be able to demonstrate, in cases of controversy, that the broker has indeed put the customer's interest first. Absent the suitability rule, it may well be that that fiduciary responsibility will fall away as well." He noted that before dealers are exempt from the requirement, they will need to get signed forms from clients acknowledging that the brokerage will no longer evaluate the suitability of an investment. But investor rights advocate Glorianne Stromberg worries that some clients may not understand that their broker no longer has fiduciary responsibility over their portfolios. "While we've got to deal with the problems that occur because of [an unanticipated increase in trade volumes], you still have to not lose sight of the fundamentals of making sure the dealers' capital is not at risk and making sure that the investments are consistent with the risk profile of the client," said Ms. Stromberg, a former commissioner at the Ontario Securities Commission. The suitability rule will still apply at brokerages that advise clients on their investments. The rule requires a dealer to review each trade to ensure that it fits the customer's needs and objectives.

To: Hank Stamper who wrote (536)	4/11/2000 7:44:00 PM
From: TFF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 591

Canada watchdogs to ease discount trading rules Reuters Company News - April 10, 2000 11:56 Jump to first matched term By Lydia Zajc TORONTO, April 10 (Reuters) - Canadian discount brokerages, plagued by delays processing increasingly heavy order volumes, will be allowed to bypass a rule that forces them to review every trade for customer safety, securities regulators said on Monday. David Brown, head of Canada's most powerful securities watchdog, the Ontario Securities Commission, said regulators across the country, a group known as the Canadian Securities Administrator, will work with discount traders to ease the so-called "Know Your Client" rule. "The Canadian Securities Administrators will accept applications from order-access-only traders, which is a broader term of discount brokerage," Brown told reporters. "The securities firms that will offer order-access services only to their clients will, upon application, be relieved of the suitability requirement for those traders provided that no insights or information will be given on a trade." Discount brokers allow market players to call their own shots and process buy and sell orders for a smaller fee than a traditional full-service brokers, which offer advice on trades. The "Know Your Client" rule currently forces brokers to review each trade to make sure it fits a customer's portfolio. Discount brokers have been lobbying regulators heavily to change that rule, arguing that it's impeding service and access to markets. "Because we now have a buy-side of the market (that's) growing, and growing very quickly, investors are making their own investment decisions, and don't need the protection of the suitability rule," Brown added. "That perhaps slows the process down." "It's giving the investor something that the investor doesn't want and ultimately will have to pay for," he added. John See, vice chairman of TD Waterhouse Group, which oversees Canada's biggest discount broker, was satisfied with the change after spending about three years lobbying the groups. "We really see this as a huge win for the self-directed investor," See said. TD Waterhouse is owned by Toronto-Dominion Bank . See said the change, combined with the reduction of a training period for traders, will help reduce trading times. Douglas Hyndman, chairman of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the umbrella organisation for Canada's 13 provincial and territorial commissions, said in a statement that certain conditions will apply to dealers for whom this relief will be available. The conditions include making sure that registered traders give no advice and clients acknowledge their risk. Service times have slowed in recent months as more Canadians have become interested in the volatile stock market, especially high tech issues. The discount traders, which did not anticipate the boom in business, have seen their systems overloaded and stall under computer glitches, which have caused investors to wait for half an hour or more instead of seeing trades process in minutes. Brown spoke to reporters after kicking off Canada's National Investor Education Week.