Financial Crime Compliance for Alternative Trading Systems
An ATS matches orders without ever holding any client relationships at all, which places your exposure entirely with the subscribers rather than with the individual investors whose orders eventually reach you here.
- FINTRAC Registered
- Cross-Border Expertise
- Audit Ready
Speak To Specialists
Subscriber Relationships and Order Flow Visibility
An alternative trading system provides a venue where orders meet, and the client relationship belongs to the dealer sending the order rather than to the venue that receives it. That structure means an ATS sees order flow in considerable detail while knowing very little indeed about the individuals whose decisions actually produced any of it.
Subscribers are therefore where diligence genuinely belongs. Understanding which dealers connect to your system, what standards they apply to their own clients, and whether their order flow behaves consistently is the work available to a venue. Surveillance across that flow frequently reveals patterns no single subscriber can see, because only the venue observes activity arriving from every participant simultaneously.
Compliance Support for Trading Venues
We deliver subscriber due diligence frameworks, order flow surveillance design, sanctions screening arrangements, regulatory scope determinations, market integrity controls, financial crime risk assessment, and ongoing compliance support for alternative trading systems operating in Canada.
PSP Registration
End-to-end PSP registration support under Canada's Retail Payment Activities Act framework.
MSB Licensing
Complete MSB licensing and FINTRAC registration for money services businesses nationwide.
Banking
Deliver secure banking compliance solutions supporting regulatory excellence and operational efficiency.
AML Compliance
Build robust AML frameworks ensuring regulatory compliance and effective financial crime prevention.
Regulatory Consulting
Receive strategic regulatory advice supporting sustainable growth and complete compliance confidence.
Transaction Monitoring
Ongoing transaction monitoring and screening to detect and report suspicious activity.
Why Trading Venues Choose Us
We build our diligence around subscribers and surveillance around order flow, because a venue sees activity arriving from every participant at once while individual subscribers only ever see their own.
Subscribers Properly Assessed
We build due diligence for the dealers connecting to your system, since those are the relationships you genuinely hold.
Order Flow Surveilled
We design surveillance across aggregate flow, because a venue observes patterns that no individual subscriber can possibly see.
Scope Honestly Established
We establish which obligations genuinely reach a venue rather than importing requirements that apply to your subscribers instead.
Sanctions Always Screened
We build sanctions screening regardless of reporting entity status, since those obligations arise under entirely separate Canadian legislation.
Trading Systems We Support
We support alternative trading systems and marketplaces operating anywhere in Canada today, alongside foreign venues that have Canadian subscribers or that match any order flow originating within the country itself.
What Our Clients Say
Canadian financial firms trust ABM Global Compliance to navigate complex regulation with clarity and care. From MSB licensing to ongoing AML support, our clients value our responsiveness, expertise, and genuine commitment to their long-term compliance success.
Let's Talk About Your Compliance Needs
Schedule a Free Consultation
Whether you’re starting a new MSB or need ongoing AML support, our team responds within one business day.
Trading Venue Questions
Clear and direct answers to the questions alternative trading systems ask most about which financial crime obligations genuinely apply to venues.
Do we know the end investors?
Generally not. The client relationship belongs to the subscriber sending the order rather than to the venue that receives it.
Where does our diligence sit?
With subscribers, covering which dealers connect, what standards they apply, and whether their order flow behaves consistently over time.
Are we a reporting entity?
Usually not, since the legislation names securities dealers rather than venues, though we establish that against your specific activities.
What should our surveillance detect?
Manipulation, layering, and coordinated activity across subscribers, which only a venue observing aggregate flow can realistically identify.
Do sanctions obligations apply here?
Yes. Sanctions requirements arise under separate legislation and reach trading venues whatever their anti money laundering reporting status happens to be.