TMX Group And Montreal Exchange Support New Streamlined Options Licensing Process

At the request of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), CSI Global Education, will offer a new Derivatives Fundamentals and Options Licensing Course (DFOL) on January 31, 2011. The DFOL will greatly facilitate the licensing of financial professionals for options trading.

This new and more streamlined process will help encourage the appropriate and responsible use of options by Canadian investors by increasing the number of financial professionals licensed in effective options trading. TMX Group, and its derivatives exchange, Montreal Exchange, are encouraged by this development and applaud IIROC for making these important risk management tools more accessible to Canadian investors.

While this is an important first step in streamlining options licensing, in many jurisdictions around the world securities licensing for brokers and traders includes equity options as part of a single qualifying examination. Ultimately, it will be important for the continued development of Canada's capital markets to evolve its licensing process to a similar all inclusive approach.

The IIROC notice on the new DFOL course can be found at www.iiroc.ca.