Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Montreal, will abolish...

Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Montreal, will abolish soft-dollar commissions to brokerage firms on equity and derivatives trading, effective Jan. 1, said Isabelle Tremblay, a spokeswoman for the C$89 billion (US$72 billion) pension fund. The change is being made to "follow the best practices recommended by various international supervisory bodies," said Ms. Tremblay. When the fund requires research and financial information from full-service brokers in the future, it will pay for it directly from its operating budget. "We want to increase the transparency of securities trading costs," she said.