TORONTO, May 8 (Reuters) – Canada’s Competition Bureau is
studying the Ontario Securities Commission’s draft terms and
conditions for approving Maple Group’s proposed takeover of
Toronto Stock Exchange-operator TMX Group, the head of
the bureau said on Tuesday.

Competition Bureau Commissioner Melanie Aitken said the
commission will issue its own views on the proposed deal after
the OSC publishes its final terms and conditions.

TORONTO, May 4 (Reuters) – The pace of purchasing activity
in the Canadian economy w eakened in April from March by more
than expectations, suggesting the second quarter may have gotten
off to a soggy start, according to Ive y Purchasing Managers
Index data released on Friday.

The data showed the seasonally adjusted index fell to 52.7
in April from 63.5 in March. Analysts polled by Reuters had
forecast a reading of 61. The unadjusted index slipped to 52.2
from 65 a month earlier.

TORONTO, May 3 (Reuters) – Maple Group said on Thursday it
would accept a regulator’s conditions on its C$3.8 billion
($3.84 billion) bid for TMX Group, likely paving the way
for the elusive takeover of the operator of the Toronto Stock
Exchange to go ahead.

The consortium of Canada’s largest banks, insurers and
pension plans said that if the terms from the Ontario Securities
Commission survive a 30-day comment period, it would accept
them, allowing Maple to win control of the Toronto exchange in a
deal that will give it some 85 percent of Canadian stock trades.

TORONTO (Reuters) – TMX Group (X.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares rose on Tuesday after the financial institutions bidding for the Canadian stock exchange operator came a step closer to completing the elusive C$3.8 billion ($3.86 billion) takeover deal.

But the shares held below the bid price on fears that the complicated transaction could still fall apart due to regulatory concerns.

TORONTO (Reuters) – The consortium of Canadian financial institutions bidding for the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange extended its offer for a seventh time on Monday and announced two deals that will help it realize an ambitious plan to transform Canada’s stock trading landscape.

Prolonging its C$3.8 billion ($3.85 billion) bid for TMX Group (X.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to May 31, Maple Group said it had reached agreements to buy Alpha Trading Systems, Canada’s second biggest stock trading venue, and the Canadian Depository for Securities Ltd clearing system.

TORONTO, April 27 (Reuters) – A consortium bidding for TMX
Group, the operator of Canada’s biggest stock exchange,
said on Friday it hopes to extend its $3.8 billion offer but is
still working to resolve regulatory concerns.

TMX shares rose 6 percent as investors interpreted the
statement from Maple Group, comprised of 13 Canadian financial
institutions, as a cautiously optimistic sign that the
long-delayed deal might succeed.

TORONTO, April 25 (Reuters) – Canadian home resale prices
sagged in February from January, the Teranet-National Bank
Composite House Price Index showed on Wednesday, and the pace of
year-over-year growth has slowed.

The index, which measures price changes for repeat sales of
single-family homes, showed prices fell 0.2 percent in February
from January, in a modest cooling of what has been a hot market
across much of Canada. It was the third decline in four months.

TORONTO, April 24 (Reuters) – Canada’s main securities
regulator will soon unveil terms and conditions under which it
might approve Maple Group’s C$3.8 billion ($3.84 billion) bid to
take over the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The draft rules to be issued by the Ontario Securities
Commission are likely to address investor concerns that the
deal, under which a consortium of 13 financial institutions is
seeking to buy market operator TMX Group, would create an
unfair monopoly in Canadian securities trading and clearing.

OTTAWA/TORONTO, April 18 (Reuters) – Canada heads into a
weekend meeting of global finance chiefs refusing to budge in
its stance against contributing additional funds to the
International Monetary Fund to deal with fallout from the
European debt crisis.

The IMF has been pressing for increased resources to be able
protect the world economy from Europe’s debt crisis.

TORONTO, April 13 (Reuters) – Canada’s securities watchdogs
unveiled strict rules on Friday for anonymous stock trades in
so-called “dark pools,” a move the regulators said was aimed at
protecting investors from the risk of unfair pricing.

Dark pools allow some players, often big institutions, to
match orders while concealing price and volume. By enabling them
to hide their cards, the dark pools limit the impact of an order
on the stock’s price before the trade’s completion.