IIROC Publishes Study On Impact Of Dark Rule Amendments

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada recently published a study on the "Impact of the Dark Rule Amendments" which analyses the dark liquidity framework implemented in 2012.

The objective of these amendments was to establish a framework which balances recognition of the contribution of dark orders to the post-trade price discovery process with the need to protect lit market price discovery, ensure meaningful price improvement and establish relative equality between transparent marketplaces and dark pools. The study concludes, among other things, that the amendments reduced dark volume in the absence of meaningful price improvement with little deterioration in market quality and that the objectives of the amendments were thus met.