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TSX Group Inc. Interim Co-CEO Rik Parkhill says it is clear that the issue of mutual recognition is gaining acceptance in the U.S. but he told an audience at PDAC today in Toronto that even further work is required to make Canada more competitive on a global scale.
"The broader policy environment needs work. As a destination for foreign capital, we are not as attractive as we could be and should be to global markets,” said Mr. Parkhill. “ He pointed out examples of how the 2006 income trust decision hurt issuers plus that there was still some confusion over interest-deduction taxation. “The fuzziness that surrounded the question of interest-deduction taxation as it related to takeovers by Canadian companies of foreign firms certainly spooked some key players in our market at a critical time. But the bigger problem is a policy approach that views the Canadian market and especially Canadian capital markets as an island unto itself."
He said that globalization should be embraced because Canada is in a great position to compete. "We are not an island because we can’t be an island. Our own industries – the exploration and development industry in mining and the exchange industry – support a whole range of professions and services. Geologists and investment bankers, lawyers and broker dealers, traders and investor relations experts, engineers and accountants, fund managers and stock analysts. All these people have come to depend on our shared success in faraway lands.”
He cited examples of TSX's success in winning exchange listings in the competition with other exchanges and the overall success in raising capital, whether by IPO, secondary financing or private placement which positions TSX exchanges currently as 7th largest in the world.
He concluded by saying, "It is not a matter of protecting Canadian champions that is involved here. It is a matter of supporting global champions – like our mining industry, and, in our chosen niches, our exchange industry. That means we need public policies that welcome foreign investors in our economy and welcome Canadians going abroad to build this country’s wealth."
Mr. Parkhill’s remarks are available on tsx.com.
Related Documents:
Speech - The Annual PDAC Convention
