Canada stock market shutdown pushes investors to explore options – by John Tilak and Fergal Smith (Reuters Canada – April 30, 2018)

https://ca.reuters.com/

TORONTO (Reuters) – A rare outage at Canada’s major stock exchanges could dent the credibility of operator TMX Group Ltd (X.TO) and encourage investors to explore alternative trading channels, fund managers and traders told Reuters.

Canada’s stock market suffered a partial shutdown on Friday, forcing TMX to halt trading more than an hour early. TMX has since said the exchanges will resume trading on Monday after “internal technical issues” were resolved.

The outage sent investors to TMX competitors and exchanges in New York that listed Canadian companies, traders said. Some of Canada’s biggest companies – including the likes of Suncor Energy (SU.TO) (SU.N), Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) (ENB.N) and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) (ABX.N) – are listed both in Toronto and New York.

While the shutdown occurred on a low-volume trading day, it highlighted the technological challenges faced by exchanges such as TMX, and the risks to reputation that come with them.

“It is not a good thing for the exchange or the investors. It is lost business for TMX and lost credibility. It makes investors look elsewhere,” said David Cockfield, portfolio manager at Northland Wealth Management.

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