Stock markets move to reduce on-site staff

With concerns about the Covid-19 outbreak intensifying, stock exchanges are taking steps to maintain operations while protecting the health of their staff.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) called on issuers to submit filings and pay required fees electronically, with most of the staff in its listed issuer services (LIS) division now working remotely “to ensure our staff’s safety and continuity of our operations.”

“Our LIS staff will work diligently with all applicants and listed issuers to ensure that any disruptions to our review and approval of transactions as a result of this measure are kept to a minimum,” the TSX said in a statement.

At the same time, Nasdaq, Inc. announced that it will close the trading floor for its options market in Philadelphia, the PHLX Options Market, on March 17.

The trading floor will remain closed “until further notice,” Nasdaq said.

Last week, the major U.S. derivatives markets, the CME Group and the CBOE, both closed their trading floors.

Nasdaq also noted that its staff in North America “have been operating across a combination of work-from-home, split teams, and rotating staff schedules since March 9,” an arrangement that will remain in effect until further notice.

“For the safety of all market participants, Nasdaq has proactively actioned its business continuity plans and remains committed to maintaining resilient, dynamic markets. We remain in close dialogue with clients, employees, health officials, industry partners, and regulators and will revise our plans accordingly,” said Tal Cohen, executive vice president and head of North American market services at Nasdaq.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.