The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) recently provided guidance (the Guidance) to reporting entities in connection with their continuing obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Guidance, FINTRAC acknowledged that reporting entities may have to reassign and reprioritize their internal resources in response to the pandemic, which may in turn affect … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has announced measures intended to support federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs) and improve the stability of the Canadian economy and financial system in response to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and current market conditions: Domestic Stability Buffer set to 1.00% of risk weighted assets. Originally, … Continue Reading
Further to our previous post which introduces the concept of open banking and how Canada is approaching it, the Department of Finance, through its Advisory Committee on Open Banking (the Committee), has completed its initial review (the First Phase Review) which focused on: (i) the ways in which open banking would provide meaningful benefits and … Continue Reading
The Office of Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) stated recently that it is in the process of revising its capital requirements for operational risk applicable to deposit-taking institutions (DTIs) to reflect the final Basel III revisions published by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in December 2017. OSFI confirmed that the implementation of the revised … Continue Reading
FINTRAC to publicly name violators of anti-money laundering rules Recently, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) published certain changes to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) requiring FINTRAC to make public all administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) imposed. These changes are reflected in FINTRAC’s AMP policy (AMP … Continue Reading
The 2019 Budget includes a proposal to introduce legislation to implement a new retail payment oversight framework in order to regulate payment service providers (PSPs) in Canada. While the budget provides few details about the proposed regulatory framework, we expect that it will be based on a 2017 discussion paper released by the Department of … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has proposed revisions to Guideline A-10, the “Foreign Bank Branch Deposit Requirement”, (the Guideline), formerly known as the Capital Equivalency Deposit. The revisions to the Guidelines address regulatory standards for authorized foreign banks’ minimum deposit to be held in trust. The revisions include changes to the Guideline … Continue Reading
The UK continues to be the global pioneer in open banking through the implementation of the EU PSD2 and the CMA open banking initiative. However, through regulatory reforms and/or market-led initiatives, many jurisdictions are now catching up. Working with our colleagues across the globe, we have produced a comparative guide to open banking as part … Continue Reading
In the 2019 federal budget, the government has proposed new legislation to help implement a new retail payments oversight framework that will enable retail payment services providers (PSPs) to continue to offer innovation in services, while remaining reliable and safe. The global payments landscape is rapidly changing as innovative technologies are challenging traditional payments systems. … Continue Reading
Open banking is a safe and secure technology that allows consumers to enable banks to disseminate their information to third party services providers. As a concept, open banking is more developed in other countries such as the United Kingdom (the UK) and Australia. In Canada, the concept is steadily evolving and is still being deliberated … Continue Reading
In March 2018, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada released findings of their review of domestic bank retail sales practices, concluding that banking culture focused on selling products and services increased the risk that consumer interests were not being given proper weight. Following release of these findings, Bill C-86 was introduced and received royal assent … Continue Reading
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has issued proposed revisions (the Revisions) to certain chapters of the Liquidity Adequacy Requirements (LAR) guidelines. The LAR set out the framework that Canadian deposit-taking institutions (DTIs) must follow to mitigate the risk of a stressed environment leading to insufficient liquidity. The Revisions are a response … Continue Reading
The Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN), a network of 29 state financial sector regulators and supervisors committed to supporting financial innovation in the interests of consumers, including Quebec’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the Ontario Securities Commission, has announced the launch of a pilot phase of cross-border testing and knowledge sharing initiative for Fintech … 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
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
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), the federal financial institutions prudential regulator, has posed seven revised transactions instructions on its website. Transaction instructions set out OSFI’s requirements for information and documents in connection with applications for approval under federal financial institutions statutes, and may include guidance from OSFI related to the application. … Continue Reading
On September 12, 2017, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), two otherwise independent regulators, announced that they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to coordinate regulatory oversight and strengthen consumer/investor protection. We have made inquiries and have learned that the MOU is not publicly available; … Continue Reading
