The competent authorities may allow the requirement against a written exchange‐traded option to be equal to the margin required by the exchange if they are fully satisfied that it provides an accurate measure of the risk associated with the option and that it is at least equal to the capital requirement against an option that would result from a calculation made using the method set out in the remainder of this Annex or applying the internal models method described in Annex V. The competent authorities may also allow the capital requirement for an OTC option cleared by a clearing house recognised by them to be equal to the margin requir ...[+++]ed by the clearing house if they are fully satisfied that it provides an accurate measure of the risk associated with the option and that it is at least equal to the capital requirement for an OTC option that would result from a calculation made using the method set out in the remainder of this Annex or applying the internal models method described in Annex V. In addition they may allow the requirement on a bought exchange‐traded or OTC option to be the same as that for the instrument underlying it, subject to the constraint that the resulting requirement does not exceed the market value of the option. The requirement against a written OTC option shall be set in relation to the instrument underlying it.

The competent authorities may allow the requirement for a written exchange‐traded commodity option to be equal to the margin required by the exchange if they are fully satisfied that it provides an accurate measure of the risk associated with the option and that it is at least equal to the capital requirement against an option that would result from a calculation made using the method set out in the remainder of this Annex or applying the internal models method described in Annex V.

Stock-index futures, the delta-weighted equivalents of options in stock-index futures and stock indices collectively referred to hereafter as ‘stock-index futures’, may be broken down into positions in each of their constituent equities. These positions may be treated as underlying positions in the equities in question, and may, subject to the approval of the competent authorities, be netted against opposite positions in the underlying equities themselves.

In addition they may allow the requirement on a bought exchange‐traded or OTC commodity option to be the same as that for the commodity underlying it, subject to the constraint that the resulting requirement does not exceed the market value of the option. The requirement for a written OTC option shall be set in relation to the commodity underlying it.

Honourable senators, I understand that this is of great concern to the four exchanges in Canada that trade in securities and structured products such as derivatives and options — the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Bourse de Montréal, the Canadian Venture Exchange in Calgary, and the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, as well as the three clearing houses that clear those trades, namely, the Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation, the Canadian Depository for Securities and the WCE Clearing Corporation.

Then, there is the tax on direct investments abroad, derivatives trading market regulations such as swaps, options, futures contracts on bonds, stock index contracts and so on; I have here a list of proposals coming from civil society economists throughout the world.