Alpha cuts trading fees in bid to win bigger share

TORONTO, July 6 (Reuters) - Alpha Group, the biggest challenger to Canada's dominant stock exchange, is reducing its trading fees in a bid to win more market share, the company said on Monday.

Alpha said it is reducing some of its fees for securities that trade for less than a C$1 and removing fees for trades executed at the start of the session.

The company said it is also increasing fee rebates it offers to market players who provide certain types of trading orders on securities that trade for at least C$1 or more, helping to boost liquidity.

Alpha Group, owned in part by the investment dealing arms of Canada's largest banks, launched its alternative trading venue last November.

At the time, it said it had its eye on a 20 percent market share within its first year of operation in a market dominated by TMX Group Inc (X.TO), which owns the Toronto Stock Exchange and smaller-cap TSX Venture Exchange, as well as the Montreal Exchange derivatives market.

At May, Alpha held about 6 percent market share on a volume basis, while TMX made up nearly 90 percent, according to the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. The balance was held by other alternative trading systems.

($1=$1.16 Canadian) (Reporting by Jennifer Kwan; editing by Rob Wilson)