The fate of a pair of Omega Securities alternative trading platforms hangs in the balance as regulators hold a hearing on whether it provided misleading information to trading clients. The Ontario Securities Commission is seeking the suspension of two Omega trading venues for failing to comply with regulations.
In its complaint, the OSC staff allege Omega was providing inaccurate information surrounding the identity of brokers, and was not complying with rules surrounding the time-stamping of trades. The OSC further alleged Omega was providing data to some brokers before it was more widely available. In the statement of allegations, the regulator said the problems date back to 2012, and were unaddressed until it launched its investigation.
“[Omega] knew that it was disseminating false and misleading information with respect to the time of orders and trades, as well as inaccurate information about the identities of buy and sell brokers for certain transactions, and during these ensuing years, OSI made no efforts to correct these failures before staff’s investigation,” according to the OSC.
For its part, Omega has staunchly defended its trading platform as it looks to stave off the cease trading order from the OSC. In a November 14 statement, Omega President and CEO Sean Debotte said his firm does not believe any of its clients were treated unfairly.
“Omega firmly believes that its trading systems operate with integrity and have offered a valuable service to the market for approximately 10 years, and that its market data is distributed in a fair and orderly fashion,” Debotte said in a statement. “None of Omega's market participants are being disadvantaged or treated unfairly in any way whatsoever.”
After nearly a full-day hearing on Friday, the matter was adjourned until Monday afternoon.
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