On July 25, 2019, the applicable securities regulatory authorities approved amendments to UMIR Rule 6.6 (Amendments) that modify the requirements for Dark Orders1 to provide a better price2 when trading against certain orders. Specifically, the Amendments add a minimum order value of $30,000 in addition to the current threshold of 50 standard trading units (STUs).  Under the Amendments, an order may execute against a Dark Order without receiving a better price only if it is sufficiently large in both volume (over 50 STUs) and value (over $30,000).  

The Amendments were published for comment on December 13, 2018 in IIROC Rules Notice 18-0231 – Rules Notice – Request for Comments – UMIR – Proposed Amendments Respecting Provision of Price Improvement by a Dark Order.  All relevant background information, including the description and impact of the Amendments, is set out in that notice.

• 1Please see “Dark Order” definition in UMIR Rule 1.1.
• 2Please see “better price” definition in UMIR Rule 1.1.