The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) has recently updated its industry guidance (Revised Guidance) in relation to the filing of suspicious transaction reports (STRs). The Revised Guidance reflects FINTRAC’s increased expectations as to certain key requirements for filing STRs. Reporting entities, including financial entities, are encouraged to revisit their current approach … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has issued a final version of Guideline B-5: Asset Securitization (the Guideline), which sets out OSFI’s general expectations for asset securitization transactions undertaken by federally regulated insurance companies. The existing guideline on asset securitization was first published in November 2004, and does not adequately account for … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has issued its final version of the Capital Adequacy Requirements (CAR) guideline and Leverage Requirements (LR) guideline. OSFI updates its CAR guideline periodically to ensure capital requirements reflect the underlying risks and developments in the financial industry. The LR guideline supplements this by setting out the … Continue Reading
On September 30, 2018, Canada and the United States announced they had reached a resolution on certain trade issues and agreed on the text of a new trilateral trade agreement with Mexico to be called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Once ratified, the USMCA will replace the longstanding trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has issued its final version of the Corporate Governance Guideline (CGG). The CGG sets out OSFI’s expectations for boards of directors of federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs). The CGG applies to all FRFIs other than the Canadian branch operations of foreign banks and insurance companies. The … Continue Reading
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) recently released two notices on the implementation and regulation of the Canadian bail-in regime, namely: CSA Staff Notice 46-309, in connection with the regulation of Bail-in Debt (as defined below); and CSA Staff Notice 81-331, in connection with the implications of the bail-in regime on investment fund issuers, subject to … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has released proposed revisions to the Leverage Requirements (LR) guideline in order to align with upcoming modifications to Chapter 4 (Settlement and Counterparty Risk) and Chapter 7 (Securitization) of the Capital Adequacy Requirements (CAR) guideline. The LR set out the framework for the leverage ratio, which … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has released a discussion paper on the proposed implementation of the final Basel III reforms in Canada. The reforms were published in December 2017 and, in summary, seek to: Enhance credibility in the calculation of risk-weighted assets. Improve the comparability and transparency of banks’ capital ratios. … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has provided greater transparency to the market surrounding the Domestic Stability Buffer (the DSB) currently held by Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) in a bid to guard against Pillar 2 risks associated with systemic vulnerabilities. OSFI revealed last week that D-SIBs must hold an extra cushion, … Continue Reading
Last week, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) issued its final guideline on total loss absorbing capacity (TLAC) disclosure requirements for Canadian domestic systemically-important banks (D-SIBs). The new guideline sets out the format, timing and location of the TLAC disclosure requirements, among other things. The new guideline further requires that D-SIBs begin … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), the federal financial institutions prudential regulator, recently addressed the issue of a cap on issuance of covered bonds which presently stands at 4% of a bank’s total assets. OSFI is now taking a hard look at this limit and is doing so in the context of … Continue Reading
Commendably, South Africa’s new Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill proposes that we take a bold step ahead of contemporary laws across Africa and beyond. Pertinently, clause 19(1) of the Bill proscribes the novel concept of cyberlaundering. Cyberlaundering is the use of a computer to perform or assist an unlawful financial transaction or a relationship involving property … Continue Reading
