Best execution factors

Rule

The policies and procedures for achieving best execution must address the following broad factors when executing all client orders:
1. the price of the security,
2. the speed of execution of the client order,
3. the certainty of execution of the client order, and
4. the overall cost of the transaction, when costs are passed on to clients.
In addition to the broad factors listed in subsection 3121(1), the policies and procedures for best execution of client orders for listed securities and foreign-exchange traded securities must address the following specific factors:
1. the considerations taken into account when determining appropriate routing strategies for client orders,
2. the considerations for fair pricing of Opening Orders when determining where to enter an Opening Order,
3. the considerations when not all Marketplaces are open and available for trading,
4. how order and trade information from all appropriate Marketplaces, including unprotected Marketplaces and foreign organized regulated markets, is taken into account,
5. the factors related to executing client orders on unprotected Marketplaces, and
6. the factors related to sending client orders to a foreign intermediary for execution.
The policies and procedures for best execution must address the factors used to achieve best execution when manually handling a client order for trades on a Marketplace, including the following “prevailing market conditions”:
1. the direction of the market for the security,
2. the depth of the posted market,
3. the last sale price and the prices and volumes of previous trades,
4. the size of the spread, and
5. the liquidity of the security.