Canadian regulators have unveiled a new system to report trading data from the secretive corporate bond market, but investors will have to wait two days after a trade occurs to see details of the transaction. The new public reporting system is expected to launch in mid-2016 and to be fully implemented by mid-2017, giving investors information about pricing and volume of trading in corporate bonds.
The system was developed after regulators faced global pressure following the financial crisis in 2008 to develop systems to report trading activity in the enormous but opaque corporate bond market. In Canada, corporate bonds accounted for $500-billion of trading volume in 2014, but little of the action could be seen by ordinary investors, with data largely available only to institutions that can pay to receive it from private sources.
Janet McFarland – Globe and Mail – BNN – September 17, 2015.