Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. – ss. 38(1), 78(1) of the CFA
Headnote
Application for a ruling pursuant to section 38 of the Commodity Futures Act granting relief from the dealer registration requirement in section 22 of the CFA to allow the Filer, an investment dealer and member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), to use employees of certain Designated Foreign Affiliates for "after-hours trading" in commodity futures contracts and commodity futures options on the Bourse de Montréal Inc. -- Relief granted, subject to terms and conditions.
Statutes Cited
Commodity Futures Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.20, as am., ss. 22(1), 38(1) and 78(1).
September 11, 2021
IN THE MATTER OF THE COMMODITY FUTURES ACT R.S.O. 1990, c. C. 20, AS AMENDED (the CFA) ANDIN THE MATTER OF MACQUARIE CAPITAL MARKETS CANADA LTD. (the Filer)
RULING (Subsection 38(1) and 78(1) of the CFA)
UPON the application (the Application) of the Filer to the Ontario Securities Commission (the Commission) for a ruling of the Commission, pursuant to subsection 38(1) of the CFA, that the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees (as defined below) of the Filer are not subject to the dealer registration requirement in the CFA when conducting Extended Hours Activities (as defined below) on the Bourse de Montréal Inc. (the MX), subject to the terms and conditions set out below (the Exemption Sought).
AND WHEREAS the Commission granted a decision dated January 25, 2019 (the Original Decision) providing relief in connection with certain Extended Hours Activities. The Filer has also applied for an order pursuant to subsection 78(1) of the CFA to revoke the Original Decision as of the date hereof.
AND WHEREAS for the purposes of this ruling (the Decision):
(i) "dealer registration requirement in the CFA" means the provisions of section 22 of the CFA that prohibit a person or company from trading in Exchange-Traded Futures unless the person or company satisfies the applicable provisions of subsection 22(1)(a) of the CFA;
"Exchange-Traded Future" means a commodity futures contract or a commodity futures option as those terms are defined in subsection 1(1) of the CFA;
(ii) terms used in this Decision that are defined in the Securities Act (Ontario) (OSA), and not otherwise defined in this Decision or in the CFA, shall have the same meaning as in the OSA, unless the context otherwise requires;
AND UPON considering the Application and the recommendation of staff of the Commission;
AND UPON the Filer having represented to the Commission and the Director as follows:
The Filer
1. The Filer is a corporation formed under the laws of Ontario. The head office of the Filer is located in Toronto, Ontario.
2. The Filer is registered as an investment dealer under the securities legislation of all the provinces and territories of Canada; is registered as a futures commission merchant under the commodity futures legislation of Ontario and Manitoba; and is registered as a derivatives dealer under the derivatives legislation of Québec.
3. The Filer is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and an approved participant of the MX.
4. The Filer is not in default of securities, derivatives or commodity futures legislation in any jurisdiction of Canada.
5. Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL) is a corporation incorporated in Australia. The head office of MBL is located in Sydney, Australia.
6. The Filer and MBL are each wholly-owned (indirect) subsidiaries of the same ultimate parent entity, Macquarie Group Limited (MGL).
7. MGL carries on business in the United Kingdom and Australia.
8. MBL is an Australia-based financial service provider, which is authorized and regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). MBL is also authorized and regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission pursuant to an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL).
9. MBL carries on business in the United Kingdom through a branch office, Macquarie Bank Limited (London Branch) (MBL London and, together with MBL, the Designated Foreign Affiliates), located in London, England and is authorized and regulated by APRA, and subject to regulation by both the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority as well as the United Kingdom Prudential Regulation Authority.
10. The Designated Foreign Affiliates hold memberships and/or have third-party clearing relationships with commodity and financial futures exchanges and clearing associations, including the Australian Stock Exchange. The Designated Foreign Affiliates may also carry positions reflecting trades executed on other exchanges through affiliates and/or third-party clearing brokers.
11. The Filer wishes to make use of certain designated employees of the Designated Foreign Affiliates (Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees) to handle trading requests on the MX from the Filer's clients and the Filer on a proprietary basis during the MX's extended trading hours from 4:30 p.m. ET (t-1) to 6:00 a.m. ET each day on which the MX is open for trading (the Extended Hours Activities).
The MX Extended Trading Hours Amendments
12. The MX, based in Montréal, Québec, operates an exchange for options, commodity futures contracts and commodity futures options, and offers access to trading in those to market participants in Canada.
13. In 2018, the MX extended its trading hours to allow commencement of trading of certain products commencing at 2:00 a.m. ET rather than 6:00 a.m. ET (the Initial Extended Hours Initiative). As set out in MX Circular 111-18, in order to accommodate such earlier trading, the MX amended its rules to allow participants on the MX to have employees of affiliated corporations, including foreign affiliates, become an approved person of the MX participant and thus be able to handle trading requests originating from the MX participant's clients or the MX participant on a proprietary basis. In furtherance of the Initial Extended Hours Initiative, the Filer sought and obtained the Original Decision from the Commission that is substantially similar to the Exemption Sought with respect to Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees of Designated Foreign Affiliates.
14. On March 17, 2020, the MX announced that it had approved non-material amendments to its rules and procedures in order to accommodate the further extension of the MX's trading hours. As a result of these amendments, it is anticipated that following the self-certification process applicable to self-regulatory organizations such as the MX, trading of certain products on the MX will commence at 8:00 p.m. ET (t-1) rather than the current 2:00 a.m. ET (the "Asian Trading Hours Initiative"). These amendments are considered non-material insofar as the framework put in place in connection with the Initial Extended Hours Initiative will apply to the Asian Trading Hours Initiative, allowing participants on the MX to have employees of affiliated corporations, including foreign affiliates, become an approved person of the MX participant and thus be able to handle trading requests originating from the MX participant's clients or the MX participant on a proprietary basis. See MX Circular 135-20. On February 4, 2021, the MX announced a proposed launch date of May 30, 2021 for the Asian Trading Hours Initiative, which has since been rescheduled to September 19, 2021. See MX Circulars 024-21 and 063-21.
Application of the dealer registration requirement in the CFA to Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees
15. The Filer is an MX approved participant and the Designated Foreign Affiliates are affiliated entities. The Filer wishes to make use of the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees to conduct the Extended Hours Activities.
16. The dealer registration requirement in the CFA requires an individual to be registered to act as a dealing representative on behalf of a registered firm. The Exemption Sought is intended to provide the Filer with an exemption from (i) the requirement that the Filer use only registered dealing representatives to conduct the Extended Hours Activities; and (ii) the requirement that the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees who will be conducting the Extended Hours Activities be registered as dealing representatives of the Filer.
17. The Filer seeks an exemption from the dealer registration requirement in the CFA because, in the absence of such exemption, each Designated Foreign Affiliate Employee who was to trade on behalf of the Filer would be required to become individually registered and licensed in Canada. The Filer believes this is duplicative since the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees are certified under applicable United Kingdom law and Australia law and supervised by the Filer's Designated Supervisors (as defined below) and are otherwise subject to the conditions set forth below. The Filer believes the dealer registration requirement is unduly onerous in light of the limited trading activities the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees will be conducting and only during the period from 4:30 p.m. ET (t-1) to 6:00 a.m. ET.
18. The Filer has also applied to, and obtained from, IIROC an exemption from the registered representative requirements that are found in IIROC Dealer Member Rules 18.2, 18.3 and 500.2 and the requirement to enter into an employee or agent relationship with the person conducting securities related business on its behalf that is found in IIROC Dealer Member Rule 39.3 (the IIROC Relief).
19. The IIROC Relief allows for trading to commence at 4:30 p.m. ET (t-1) rather than 8 p.m. ET (t-1) as contemplated by the Asian Trading Hours Initiative, subject to the MX trading rules being modified. The Exemption Sought accordingly conforms to the IIROC Relief with respect to Extended Hours Activities.
20. The IIROC Relief obtained by the Filer is subject to certain conditions, including:
(a) the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees must be registered/licensed under the applicable laws of the United Kingdom or Australia in a category that permits trading the types of products which they will be trading on the MX;
(b) the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees will be permitted to accept and enter orders from clients of the Filer or orders from the Filer on a proprietary basis during the period from 4:30 p.m. ET (t-1) to 6:00 a.m. ET, and will not be permitted to give advice;
(c) the Filer retains all responsibilities for its client accounts;
(d) the actions of the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees will be supervised by specific designated supervisors of the Filer (the Designated Supervisors), each of whom is qualified to supervise trading in futures contracts, futures contract options and options;
(e) the Filer and each Designated Foreign Affiliate must jointly and severally undertake to ensure IIROC has, upon request, prompt access to the audit trail of all trades that relate to Extended Hours Activities and records relating thereto;
(f) the Exemption Sought would apply to Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees who are designated and recorded on a list maintained by the Filer, which list must be provided to IIROC in writing and updated on at least an annual basis;
(g) the Filer and each Designated Foreign Affiliate Employee will enter into an agency arrangement pursuant to which the Filer will assume all responsibility for the actions of the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees and of each Designated Foreign Affiliate that relate to the Filer's clients regarding this trading on MX, and the Filer will acknowledge that it will be liable under IIROC rules for such actions;
(h) all MX trading rules will apply to orders entered by the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees;
(i) other than individual registration, all other existing Canadian regulatory requirements would continue to apply to this arrangement, including without limitation;
i. the Filer's client accounts would continue to be carried on the books of the Filer;
ii. all communications with the Filer's clients will continue to be in the name of the Filer; and
iii. the Filer's client account monies, security and property will continue to be held by the Filer;
(j) the Filer will establish and maintain written policies and procedures that address the performance and supervision requirements relating to MX extended trading hours; and
(k) the Filer will disclose this extended trading hours arrangement to clients for its MX trading services and provide specific instructions concerning the placement of orders relating thereto.
AND UPON the Commission being satisfied that it would not be prejudicial to the public interest to do so;
IT IS RULED pursuant to subsection 78(1) of the CFA that the Original Decision is revoked;
IT IS RULED pursuant to subsection 38(1) of the CFA that the Exemption Sought is granted, so long as:
(a) the Designated Foreign Affiliates and the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees are registered, licensed, certified or authorized under the applicable laws of the foreign jurisdiction in which the head office or principal place of business of the Designated Foreign Affiliate is located in a category that permits trading the type of products which the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees will be trading on the MX;
(b) the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees are permitted to accept and enter orders from clients of the Filer or orders from the Filer on a proprietary basis during the period from 4:30 p.m. ET (t-1) to 6:00 a.m. ET, and will not be permitted to give advice;
(c) the Filer retains all responsibilities for its client accounts;
(d) the actions of the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees will be supervised by the Designated Supervisors, each of whom is qualified to supervise trading in futures contracts, futures contract options and options;
(e) the Filer and the Designated Foreign Affiliate Employees enter into an agency arrangement substantially as described in paragraph 20(g), and such arrangement remains in effect; and
(f) the Filer remains in compliance with the terms and conditions of the IIROC Relief.