Marginal note:Duties and functions generally

• 6. (1) The Commissioner shall engage exclusively in the duties and functions of the Commissioner under section 5 and as deputy head of the Agency.

• Marginal note:Other duties

  (2) Despite subsection (1), the Commissioner may hold any other office under Her Majesty or perform any other duties for Her Majesty, but not for reward.

AGREEMENTS

Marginal note:Agreements

7. The Agency, in order to carry out its objects, may enter into an agreement or arrangement with a department or agency of the Government of Canada or of a province or with any other person or body in the name of Her Majesty in right of Canada or in its own name. An agreement or arrangement with a department or agency of a province must be made with the approval of the Governor in Council.

DEPUTY COMMISSIONERS

Marginal note:Appointment of Deputy Commissioner

8. The Commissioner may appoint one or more officers each to be called a Deputy Commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada who shall act under the instructions of the Commissioner.

EXERCISE OF POWERS, DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS

Marginal note:Exercise by personnel

9. Except as otherwise provided by the Commissioner and subject to any terms and conditions that may be specified by the Commissioner, a person who is an officer or employee of the Agency may exercise any of the powers and perform any of the duties and functions of the Commissioner under this Act if the person is appointed to serve in the Agency in a capacity appropriate to the exercise of the power or performance of the duty or function.

STAFF OF AGENCY

Marginal note:Employees

10. The employees that are necessary to enable the Commissioner to perform the duties of the Commissioner shall be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Responsibility for personnel management

• 11. (1) In respect of persons appointed under sections 8 and 10, the Commissioner is authorized to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Treasury Board under paragraphs 7(1)(b) and (e) and section 11 of the Financial Administration Act that relate to personnel management, including the determination of terms and conditions of employment and the responsibility for employer and employee relations.

• Marginal note:Delegation of powers

  (2) The Commissioner may authorize any person employed in the public service of Canada to exercise and perform, in such manner and subject to such terms and conditions as the Commissioner directs, any of the powers and functions of the Commissioner in relation to personnel management in the public service and may, from time to time as the Commissioner sees fit, revise or rescind and reinstate the authority so granted.

• Marginal note:Sub-delegation of such powers

  (3) Any person authorized under subsection (2) to exercise and perform any of the powers and functions of the Commissioner may, subject to and in accordance with the authorization, authorize one or more persons under their jurisdiction or any other person to exercise or perform any such power or function.

Marginal note:Official Languages Act

12. For greater certainty, the Official Languages Act applies to the Agency.

APPROPRIATION

Marginal note:Expenditures out of C.R.F.

• 13. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister may, in any fiscal year on terms and conditions — including the rate of interest, if any — that are determined by the Minister, advance amounts out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the Agency to permit it to defray its costs of operation.

• Marginal note:Spending authority

  (2) In carrying out its responsibilities, the Agency may spend assessments and other revenues received through the conduct of its operations in the fiscal year in which they are received or, unless an appropriation Act provides otherwise, in the next fiscal year. The amount of those assessments or other revenues shall be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Marginal note:Ownership

14. No Commissioner, person appointed under subsection 4(4) or Deputy Commissioner shall beneficially own, directly or indirectly, any shares of any financial institution, bank holding company, insurance holding company or of any other body corporate, however created, carrying on any business in Canada that is substantially similar to any business carried on by any financial institution.

Marginal note:Borrowing

15. No Commissioner, person appointed under subsection 4(4) or Deputy Commissioner shall borrow money from any financial institution or from any member institution as defined in the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act unless the Minister is first informed in writing of the intention of the Commissioner, person or Deputy Commissioner to do so.

Marginal note:No grant or gratuity to be made

• 16. (1) The Commissioner, a person appointed under subsection 4(4), a Deputy Commissioner and any person appointed under section 10 shall not accept or receive, directly or indirectly, any grant or gratuity from a financial institution, bank holding company, insurance holding company, or from a director, officer or employee of any of them, and no such financial institution, bank holding company, insurance holding company, director, officer or employee shall make or give any such grant or gratuity.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (2) Every person, financial institution, bank holding company or insurance holding company that contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable

  • (a) on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $2000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months or to both; or

  • (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years or to both.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Marginal note:Confidential information

• 17. (1) Subject to subsection (2) and except as otherwise provided in this Act, information regarding the business or affairs of a financial institution or regarding persons dealing with one that is obtained by the Commissioner or by any person acting under the direction of the Commissioner, in the course of the exercise or performance of powers, duties and functions referred to in subsections 5(1) and (2) and any information prepared from that information, is confidential and shall be treated accordingly.

• Marginal note:Disclosure permitted

  (2) If the Commissioner is satisfied that the information will be treated as confidential by the agency, body or person to whom it is disclosed, subsection (1) does not prevent the Commissioner from disclosing it

  • (a) to any government agency or body that regulates or supervises financial institutions, for purposes related to that regulation or supervision;

  • (b) to any other agency or body that regulates or supervises financial institutions, for purposes related to that regulation or supervision;

  • (c) to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation or any compensation association designated by order of the Minister pursuant to subsection 449(1) or 591(1) of the Insurance Companies Act, for purposes related to its operation; and

  • (d) to the Deputy Minister of Finance or any officer of the Department of Finance authorized in writing by the Deputy Minister of Finance or to the Governor of the Bank of Canada or any officer of the Bank of Canada authorized in writing by the Governor of the Bank of Canada, for the purposes of policy analysis related to the regulation of financial institutions.

ASSESSMENTS

Marginal note:Commissioner to ascertain expenses

• 18. (1) The Commissioner shall, before December 31 in each year, ascertain the total amount of expenses incurred during the immediately preceding fiscal year for or in connection with the administration of this Act and the consumer provisions, and the amounts of any prescribed categories of those expenses in relation to any prescribed group of financial institutions.

• Marginal note:Amount conclusive

  (2) The amounts ascertained under subsection (1) are final and conclusive for the purposes of this section.

• Marginal note:Assessment

  (3) As soon as possible after ascertaining the amounts under subsection (1), the Commissioner shall assess a portion of the total amount of expenses against each financial institution to the extent and in the manner that the Governor in Council may, by regulation, prescribe.

• Marginal note:Interim assessment

  (4) The Commissioner may, during each fiscal year, prepare an interim assessment against any financial institution.

• Marginal note:Assessment is binding

  (5) Every assessment and interim assessment is final and conclusive and binding on the financial institution against which it is made.

• Marginal note:Recovery

  (6) Every assessment and interim assessment constitutes a debt due to Her Majesty, is immediately payable and may be recovered as a debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

• Marginal note:Interest

  (7) Interest may be charged on the unpaid amount of an assessment or interim assessment at a rate equal to the rate prescribed under the Income Tax Act for amounts payable by the Minister of National Revenue as refunds of overpayments of tax under that Act in effect from time to time plus 2 %.

ADMINISTRATIVE MONETARY PENALTIES

Violations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 19. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) designating, as a violation that may be proceeded with under sections 20 to 31, the contravention of a specified consumer provision, or the non-compliance with a compliance agreement entered into under an Act listed in Schedule 1;

  • (b) fixing, in accordance with subsection (2), a penalty, or a range of penalties, in respect of any violation;

  • (c) respecting the service of documents required or authorized to be served under sections 20 to 31, including the manner and proof of service and the circumstances under which documents are deemed to be served; and

  • (d) generally, for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this section and sections 20 to 31.

• Marginal note:Maximum penalties

  (2) The maximum penalty for a violation is $50,000 in the case of a violation that is committed by a natural person, and $100,000 in the case of a violation that is committed by a financial institution.

Marginal note:Criteria for penalty

20. Except if a penalty is fixed under paragraph 19(1)(b), the amount of a penalty shall, in each case, be determined taking into account

• (a) the degree of intention or negligence on the part of the person who committed the violation;

• (b) the harm done by the violation;

• (c) the history of the person who committed the violation with respect to any prior violation or conviction under an Act listed in Schedule 1 within the five-year period immediately before the violation; and

• (d) any other criteria that may be prescribed.