Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act (S.C. 2001, c. 9)
Full Document:
Assented to 2001-06-14
121. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 455:
Marginal note:Designation of complaints body
455.1 (1) The Minister may, for the purposes of this section, designate a body corporate incorporated under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act whose purpose, in the view of the Minister, under its letters patent is dealing with complaints, made by persons having requested or received products or services from its member financial institutions, that have not been resolved to the satisfaction of those persons under procedures established by those financial institutions under paragraph 455(1)(a).
Marginal note:Obligation to be member
(2) A bank shall be a member of any body corporate that is designated under subsection (1).
Marginal note:Directors
(3) The Minister may, in accordance with the letters patent and by-laws of the body corporate designated under subsection (1), appoint the majority of its directors.
Marginal note:Not an agent
(4) A body corporate designated under subsection (1) is not an agent of Her Majesty.
Marginal note:Designation to be published
(5) A designation under subsection (1) shall be published in the Canada Gazette.
122. (1) Section 456 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Information on contacting Agency
456. (1) A bank shall, in the prescribed manner, provide a person requesting or receiving a product or service from it with prescribed information on how to contact the Agency if the person has a complaint about a deposit account, an arrangement referred to in subsection 452(3), a payment, credit or charge card, the disclosure of or manner of calculating the cost of borrowing in respect of a loan or about any other obligation of the bank under a consumer provision.
Marginal note:Report
(2) The Commissioner shall prepare a report, to be included in the report referred to in section 34 of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act, respecting
(a) procedures for dealing with complaints established by banks pursuant to paragraph 455(1)(a); and
(b) the number and nature of complaints that have been brought to the attention of the Agency by persons who have requested or received a product or service from a bank.
(2) If this section comes into force before subsection 456(1) of the Act, as enacted by section 53 of An Act to amend certain laws relating to financial institutions, being chapter 15 of the Statutes of Canada, 1997, comes into force, then section 53 of that Act is repealed.
123. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 458:
Marginal note:Cashing of government cheques
458.1 (1) Subject to regulations made under subsection (2), a member bank shall, at any branch in Canada at which it, through a natural person, opens retail deposit accounts and disburses cash to customers, cash a cheque or other instrument for an individual who is considered not to be a customer of the bank under the regulations, if
(a) the cheque or other instrument is drawn on the Receiver General or on the Receiver General’s account in the Bank of Canada, or in any bank or other deposit-taking Canadian financial institution incorporated by or under an Act of Parliament, or is any other instrument issued as authority for the payment of money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund;
(b) the individual makes the request to cash it in person and meets the prescribed conditions; and
(c) the amount of the cheque or other instrument is not more than the prescribed amount.
Marginal note:Regulations
(2) The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) respecting circumstances in which subsection (1) does not apply;
(b) for the purposes of subsection (1), prescribing the maximum amount of a cheque or other instrument;
(c) prescribing conditions to be met by an individual referred to in subsection (1); and
(d) prescribing circumstances in which an individual referred to in subsection (1) is considered not to be a customer of the bank.
Marginal note:1997, c. 15, s. 55; 1999, c. 28, s. 24.1(1) (F)
124. (1) Subsections 459.1(1) to (3) of the Act are replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Restriction on tied selling
459.1 (1) A bank shall not impose undue pressure on, or coerce, a person to obtain a product or service from a particular person, including the bank and any of its affiliates, as a condition for obtaining another product or service from the bank.
Marginal note:Favourable bank product or service tied to other sale
(2) For greater certainty, a bank may offer a product or service to a person on more favourable terms or conditions than the bank would otherwise offer, where the more favourable terms and conditions are offered on the condition that the person obtain another product or service from any particular person.
Marginal note:Favourable other sale tied to bank product or service
(3) For greater certainty, an affiliate of a bank may offer a product or service to a person on more favourable terms or conditions than the affiliate would otherwise offer, where the more favourable terms and conditions are offered on the condition that the person obtain another product or service from the bank.
(2) Section 459.1 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (4):
Marginal note:Disclosure
(4.1) A bank shall disclose the prohibition on coercive tied selling set out in subsection (1) in a statement in plain language that is clear and concise, displayed and available to customers and the public at all of its branches and at all prescribed points of service in Canada.
Marginal note:Regulations
(4.2) The Governor in Council may make regulations for the purposes of subsection (4.1) defining “point of service” and prescribing points of service.
125. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 459.1:
Marginal note:Notice of branch closure
459.2 (1) Subject to regulations made under subsection (5), a member bank with a branch in Canada at which it, through a natural person, opens retail deposit accounts and disburses cash to customers, shall give notice in accordance with those regulations before closing that branch or having it cease to carry on either of those activities.
Marginal note:Pre-closure meeting
(2) After notice is given but before the branch is closed or ceases to carry on the activities, the Commissioner may, in prescribed situations, require the bank to convene and hold a meeting between representatives of the bank, representatives of the Agency and interested parties in the vicinity of the branch in order to exchange views about the closing or cessation of activities.
Marginal note:Meeting details
(3) The Commissioner may establish rules for convening a meeting referred to in subsection (2) and for its conduct.
Marginal note:Not statutory instruments
(4) The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply in respect of rules established under subsection (3).
Marginal note:Regulations
(5) The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing
(a) the manner and time, which may vary according to circumstances specified in the regulations, in which notice shall be given under subsection (1), to whom it shall be given and the information to be included;
(b) circumstances in which a member bank is not required to give notice under subsection (1), circumstances in which the Commissioner may exempt a member bank from the requirement to give notice under that subsection, and circumstances in which the Commissioner may vary the manner and time in which notice is required to be given under any regulation made under paragraph (a); and
(c) circumstances in which a meeting may be convened under subsection (2).
Marginal note:Public accountability statements
459.3 (1) A bank with equity of one billion dollars or more shall, in accordance with regulations made under subsection (4), annually publish a statement describing the contribution of the bank and its prescribed affiliates to the Canadian economy and society.
Marginal note:Filing
(2) A bank shall, in the manner and at the time prescribed, file a copy of the statement with the Commissioner.
Marginal note:Provision of statement to public
(3) A bank shall, in the manner and at the time prescribed, disclose the statement to its customers and to the public.
Marginal note:Regulations
(4) The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing
(a) the name, contents and form of the statement referred to in subsection (1) and the time within which it must be prepared;
(b) affiliates of a bank referred to in subsection (1);
(c) the manner and time in which a statement must be filed under subsection (2); and
(d) the manner and time in which a statement mentioned in subsection (3) is to be disclosed, respectively, to a bank’s customers and to the public.
Marginal note:Regulations re disclosure
459.4 The Governor in Council may, subject to any other provisions of this Act relating to the disclosure of information, make regulations respecting the disclosure of information by banks or any prescribed class of banks, including regulations respecting
(a) the information that must be disclosed, including information relating to
(i) any product or service or prescribed class of products or services offered by them,
(ii) any of their policies, procedures or practices relating to the offer by them of any product or service or prescribed class of products or services,
(iii) anything they are required to do or to refrain from doing under a consumer provision, and
(iv) any other matter that may affect their dealings with customers or the public;
(b) the manner, place and time in which and the persons to whom information is to be disclosed; and
(c) the content and form of any advertisement by banks or any prescribed class of banks relating to any matter referred to in paragraph (a).
Marginal note:Affiliates
459.5 A bank shall not enter into any arrangement or otherwise cooperate with any of its affiliates that is controlled by a bank or a bank holding company and that is a finance entity as defined in subsection 464(1) or other prescribed entity to sell or further the sale of a product or service of the bank or the affiliate unless
(a) the affiliate complies, with respect to the product or service, with the following provisions as if it were a bank, namely,
(i) sections 449 to 455, subsections 458(1) and (3) and section 459.1, and
(ii) section 456, to the extent that it is applicable to the activities of the affiliate; and
(b) the persons who request or receive the product or service have access to complaint handling by the body corporate designated under subsection 455.1(1).
- Date modified: