Amendments pertaining to the investment industry's transition to a shorter standard settlement cycle for most equity and long-term debt securities trades in Canada were published by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) on June 29, 2017. The amendments, which are being made to IIROC's Universal Market Integrity Rules (UMIR), Dealer Member Rules (DMR) and Form 1, shorten the standard settlement cycle from three business days after the date of the trade (T+3) to two business days after the date of the trade (T+2) and were initially published for comment by IIROC in July 2016. Only non-material revisions were made to the amendments initially published by IIROC.
On September 5, 2017, the transition to T+2 settlement in Canada will coincide with a similar transition in settlement cycles occurring in the United States. As outlined in the IIROC notice, in the event of a delay in the initiation of T+2 settlement in the United States, IIROC will delay the implementation of its amendments and will publish a revised implementation timeline.
As previously discussed, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) also recently adopted and communicated amendments to National Instrument 24-101 Institutional Trade Matching and Settlement and changes to corresponding Companion Policy 24-101CPin order to support a smooth transition to a T+2 settlement in the Canadian securities regulatory framework and provide related commentary.
Similarly, as previously discussed, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) recently adopted housekeeping amendments to the TSX Company Manual and a related staff notice, as well as housekeeping amendments to the TSX Rule Book, all in connection with the transition to a T+2 settlement.
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