Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act (S.C. 2001, c. 9)
Full Document:
Assented to 2001-06-14
542. Section 434 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Application
434. Sections 431 to 433 apply only in respect of charges applicable to deposit accounts with the company in Canada and services provided by the company in Canada.
543. Section 435 of the Act, as enacted by section 379 of An Act to amend certain laws relating to financial institutions, being chapter 15 of the Statutes of Canada, 1997, is replaced by the following:
Definition of “cost of borrowing”
435. For the purposes of this section and sections 435.1 to 442, “cost of borrowing” means, in respect of a loan made by a company,
(a) the interest or discount applicable to the loan;
(b) any amount charged in connection with the loan that is payable by the borrower to the company; and
(c) any charge prescribed to be included in the cost of borrowing.
For those purposes, however, “cost of borrowing” does not include any charge prescribed to be excluded from the cost of borrowing.
544. The Act is amended by adding the following before section 441:
Complaints
545. (1) Paragraph 441(1)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(a) establish procedures for dealing with complaints made by persons having requested or received products or services in Canada from the company;
(2) If this section comes into force before paragraph 441(1)(a) of the Act, as enacted by section 382 of An Act to amend certain laws relating to financial institutions, being chapter 15 of the Statutes of Canada, 1997, comes into force, section 382 of that Act is repealed.
(3) Subsection 441(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Procedures to be filed with Commissioner
(2) A company shall file with the Commissioner a copy of its procedures established under paragraph (1)(a).
546. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 441:
Marginal note:Obligation to be member of complaints body
441.1 In any province, if there is no law of the province that makes a company subject to the jurisdiction of an organization that deals with complaints made by persons having requested or received products or services in the province from a company, the company shall be a member of an organization that is not controlled by it and that deals with those complaints that have not been resolved to the satisfaction of the persons under procedures established by companies under paragraph 441(1)(a).
547. (1) Section 442 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Information on contacting Agency
442. (1) A company 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 438(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 company 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 companies pursuant to paragraph 441(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 company.
(2) If this section comes into force before subsection 442(1) of the Act, as enacted by section 383 of An Act to amend certain laws relating to financial institutions, being chapter 15 of the Statutes of Canada, 1997, comes into force, section 383 of that Act is repealed.
548. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 444:
Marginal note:Notice of branch closure
444.1 (1) Subject to regulations made under subsection (5), a member company 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 company to convene and hold a meeting between representatives of the company, 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 regulation, 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 company is not required to give notice under subsection (1), circumstances in which the Commissioner may exempt a member company 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
444.2 (1) A company with equity of $1 billion or more shall, in accordance with regulations made under subsection (4), annually publish a statement describing the contribution of the company and its prescribed affiliates to the Canadian economy and society.
Marginal note:Filing
(2) A company 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 company 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 a statement referred to in subsection (1) and the time in which it must be prepared;
(b) affiliates of a company 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 company’s customers and to the public.
Marginal note:Regulations re disclosure
444.3 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 companies or any prescribed class of companies, 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 companies or any prescribed class of companies relating to any matter referred to in paragraph (a).
549. Section 448 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Effect of writ, etc.
448. (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the following documents are binding on property belonging to a person and in the possession of a company, or on money owing to a person by reason of a deposit account in a company, only if the document or a notice of it is served at the branch of the company that has possession of the property or that is the branch of account in respect of the deposit account, as the case may be:
(a) a writ or process originating a legal proceeding or issued in or pursuant to a legal proceeding;
(b) an order or injunction made by a court;
(c) an instrument purporting to assign, perfect or otherwise dispose of an interest in the property or the deposit account; or
(d) an enforcement notice in respect of a support order or support provision.
Marginal note:Notices
(2) Any notification sent to a company with respect to a customer of the company, other than a document referred to in subsection (1) or (3), constitutes notice to the company and fixes the company with knowledge of its contents only if sent to and received at the branch of the company that is the branch of account of an account held in the name of that customer.
Marginal note:Exception
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply in respect of an enforcement notice in respect of a support order or support provision if
(a) the enforcement notice, accompanied by a written statement containing the information required by the regulations, is served at an office of a company designated in accordance with the regulations in respect of a province; and
(b) the order or provision can be enforced under the laws of that province.
Marginal note:Time of application
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply in respect of an enforcement notice in respect of a support order or support provision until the second business day following the day of service referred to in that subsection.
Marginal note:Regulations
(5) The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) respecting the designation by a company of a place, for the purpose of subsection (3), in any province for the service of enforcement notices in respect of support orders and support provisions;
(b) prescribing the manner in which a company shall publicize the locations of designated offices of the company; and
(c) respecting the information that must accompany enforcement notices in respect of support orders and support provisions.
Marginal note:Definitions
(6) The following definitions apply in this section.
“designated office”
« bureau désigné »
“designated office” means a place designated in accordance with regulations made for the purpose of subsection (3).
“enforcement notice”
« avis d’exécution »
“enforcement notice”, in respect of a support order or support provision, means a garnishee summons or other instrument issued under the laws of a province for the enforcement of the support order or support provision.
“support order”
« ordonnance alimentaire »
“support order” means an order or judgment or interim order or judgment for family financial support.
“support provision”
« disposition alimentaire »
“support provision” means a provision of an agreement relating to the payment of maintenance or family financial support.
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