TORONTO (Reuters) – A Canadian financial consortium is still negotiating terms of a side deal it considers crucial to its plan to take over TMX Group and bring most of the country’s major exchanges under a single roof, months after the proposal came to light.

In agreeing to pay C$3.8 billion ($3.72 billion) for TMX, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, Maple Group stipulated that it would also take over Alpha Group, the TMX’s main domestic competitor. The sweeping proposal would give the enlarged group 80 percent of all Canadian equity trades.

TORONTO, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The Canadian consortium seeking
to buy TMX Group , operator of the Toronto Stock
Exchange, said on Thursday it could give regulators the right
to supervise clearing and settlement prices in order to gain
approval of the C$3.8 billion (C$3.76 billion) takeover deal.

Under its TMX takeover proposal, the Maple Group consortium
of Canadian financial services companies wants to also buy
Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS), which clears and
settles trades in Canada. This aspect of the deal has spurred
fears of an unfair monopoly, and Maple said it is ready to
compromise to get the deal done.

TORONTO, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The consortium seeking to buy
the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange sought to assure
regulators on Thursday it would not become an unfair monopoly,
even as the federal competition watchdog signaled it had
“serious concerns” about the C$3.8 billion deal.

Appearing before regulators at Canada’s most powerful
securities watchdog, representatives of Maple Group stressed
the proposal to buy TMX Group would benefit all market
players. Maple is comprised of 13 of Canada’s most powerful
financial institutions.

TORONTO, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Canada’s sale of 5-year
government bonds met with decent demand on Wednesday as
mounting euro zone debt concerns kept investors attracted to
markets viewed as safer havens.

The auction came amid a global equity and commodity selloff
on Wednesday as a poor sale of German benchmark bonds ignited
fears the European debt crisis would engulf the regional
economic powerhouse.

TORONTO, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Canada’s dollar was little
changed against U.S. currency on Tuesday as higher commodity
prices and firm domestic data were offset by news the U.S.
economy grew at a slightly lower pace than previously
estimated.

U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 2.0 percent annual
rate in the third quarter, down from the previously estimated
2.5 percent.

TORONTO, Nov 17 (Reuters) – A consortium that wants to buy
Canada’s largest stock market operator will embark next week on
its public campaign to persuade regulators the C$3.8 billion
($3.7 billion) deal is good for the country’s capital markets.

In a series of hearings, Maple Group’s plan to buy TMX
Group , owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange, will come
under the scrutiny of the powerful securities commissions of
Quebec and Ontario as well as two other provincial watchdogs.

TORONTO, Nov 14 (Reuters) – TMX Group , the owner of
Canada’s main stock exchange, is opening an office in Beijing
in a bid to attract more Chinese listings and further bolster
its standing as one of the world’s top resource hubs.

TMX, which is awaiting regulatory approval of a C$3.8
billion takeover by Maple Group Acquisition Corp, said on
Monday it opened a representative office in the Chinese capital
city, staffed by two people.

TORONTO, Nov 8 (Reuters) – The company that operates the
Toronto Stock Exchange said on Tuesday quarterly profit rose
more than expected, but it shed little light on whether its
proposed C$3.8 billion takeover was moving closer to approval.

TMX Group, whose properties include the TSX Venture
Exchange for small-cap stocks and the Montreal Exchange for
derivatives, reported a 21 percent jump in third-quarter
profit. Revenue rose 15 percent, boosted by derivatives trading
and clearing, as well as issuer services.

TORONTO, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Canada’s major securities
watchdog has rejected a plan by the country’s biggest
alternative trading system, Alpha ATS, to launch a “dark
liquidity” facility that would allow dealers to match trades
within their own walls.

In a notice published on Tuesday, the Ontario Securities
Commission said Alpha’s so-called IntraSpread facility, as
originally proposed, is inconsistent with trading rules that
ensure fair access for market players.

TORONTO, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Canadian alternative stock
trading system Omega ATS said on Wednesday it will trade
fixed-income products on its electronic platform to provide
more access to a cloudy market.

Omega, among the smallest of Canada’s alternative trading
systems, said it will be the first marketplace to provide “open
access” to trade the most liquid fixed-income securities in the
country.