The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) published a notice this week requesting comments on whether Canadian market-wide circuit breakers should be reconsidered in light of potential changes to circuit breakers in the United States.
Currently, market-wide circuit breaker policy in Canada is coordinated with circuit breakers in the U.S., where trading halts occur based on trigger levels of 10%, 20% and 30% drops of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It is IIROC's policy that it will coordinate trading halts with U.S. markets, but for days when Canadian markets are open and American markets are closed, IIROC has related triggers based on drops in the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
With the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) proposing to amend its circuit breaker structure and thresholds, IIROC is now considering whether to continue its coordination with U.S. circuit breakers, adopt Canada-specific parameters for the triggering of circuit breakers, or adopt a hybrid approach. IIROC is thus requesting comments on the potential options and has set out a number of specific questions for respondents to consider.
Comments on IIROC's proposals are being accepted until February 13, 2012. For more information, see IIROC Notice 11-0359.
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