TSX challenger delays launch

TORONTO, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Alpha Trading Systems, a bank-backed challenger to the Toronto Stock Exchange, said Monday it would delay its market launch because its system isn't ready.

The system, originally scheduled to debut Sept. 26, will now be introduced near the end of October, spokesman Michael Brady told The Globe and Mail.

Testing this past weekend showed the system had some glitches that still needed to be worked out, he said.

The Toronto firm plans to test the system again Sept. 20.

Alpha is owned by Canada's major brokerage firms, along with Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal and an arm of the Canada Pension Plan.

They want to take business from TMX Group Inc., which owns the Toronto exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange in Calgary, and drive down trading fees.

It will be the fourth alternative trading system to open in Canada since 2007.