Actual wording from polict
posted on
Feb 25, 2008 09:12AM
Requests for Trading HaltsIt is not appropriate for a listed company to request a tradinghalt in a security if a material announcement is not going to bemade forthwith.When a listed company (or its advisors) requests a trading haltfor an announcement, the company must provide assuranceto Market Surveillance that an announcement is imminent. Thenature of this announcement and the current status of eventsshall be disclosed to Market Surveillance, so the staff can assessthe need for and appropriate duration of a trading halt.Length of Trading HaltsWhen a halt in trading is necessary, trading is normally interruptedfor a period of less than two hours. In the normalcourse, the announcement should be made immediately afterthe halt is imposed and trading will resume within approximatelyone hour of the dissemination of the announcementthrough major news wires.A trading halt in a security shall not normally extend for aperiod longer than 24 hours from the time the halt was imposed.This is a maximum time period intended to address unusualsituations. The only exception to the 24-hour time limit is whereMarket Surveillance determines that resumption of tradingwould have a significant negative impact on the integrity ofthe market.Failure to Make an Announcement ImmediatelyIf trading is halted but an announcement is not immediatelyforthcoming as expected, Market Surveillance will establish areopening time, which shall not be later than 24 hours after thetime that the halt was imposed (excluding non-business days).If the company fails to make an announcement, MarketSurveillance will issue a notice stating that trading was haltedfor dissemination of news or for clarification of abnormaltrading activity, that an announcement was not immediatelyforthcoming, and that trading will therefore resume at aspecific time.When Market Surveillance advises a company in applyingSection 423 of the TSX Company Manual that it will announcethe reopening of trading the company should reconsider, inlight of its responsibility to make timely disclosure of allmaterial information, whether it should issue a statement priorto the reopening becoming effective to clarify why it requesteda trading halt (if this is the case) and why it is not able to makean announcement prior to the reopening of trading.
