Toronto Stock Exchange to Strengthen Corporate Governance Requirements for Listed Issuers

TORONTO, Oct. 4, 2012 /CNW/ - Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) today announced that it has received notice of approval from the Ontario Securities Commission to proceed with amendments to Part IV of the TSX Company Manual that relate to how a listed issuer elects its board of directors.

The new rules include requirements for issuers to elect directors annually, to elect directors individually, to publicly disclose the votes received for the election of each director, to disclose if they have adopted a majority voting policy for uncontested director elections and to disclose to TSX if a director receives a majority of "withhold" votes, if they do not have a majority voting policy.

The amended rules will become effective on December 31, 2012.

"Toronto Stock Exchange is committed to further enhancing domestic and global confidence in Canada's capital markets," said Kevan Cowan, President, TSX Markets and Group Head of Equities, TMX Group. "These changes bring additional transparency to the board selection process and help to strengthen our markets' reputation while aligning our practices to other major international jurisdictions."

TSX also announced today that it is seeking comment on additional proposed amendments to the TSX Company Manual that would require issuers to have majority voting for uncontested director elections. As proposed, TSX issuers could adopt a majority voting policy to satisfy the requirement.  The comment period ends on November 5, 2012.

The final rues and the Request for Comment are available on www.tmx.com.

About TMX Group (TSX:X)

TMX Group's key subsidiaries operate cash and derivative markets for multiple asset classes including equities, fixed income and energy. Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TMX Select, Alpha Group, The Canadian Depository for Securities, Montreal Exchange, Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation, Natural Gas Exchange, Boston Options Exchange, Shorcan, Shorcan Energy Brokers, Equicom and other TMX Group companies provide listing markets, trading markets, clearing facilities, data products and other services to the global financial community.  TMX Group is headquartered in Toronto and operates offices across Canada (Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver), in key U.S. markets (New York, Houston, Boston and Chicago) as well as in London, Beijing and Sydney.  For more information about TMX Group, visit our website at www.tmx.com.  Follow TMX Group on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tmxgroup.

SOURCE: TSX Venture Exchange