Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act (S.C. 2001, c. 9)
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Assented to 2001-06-14
AMENDMENTS TO ACTS IN RELATION TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
1991, c. 46Bank Act
117. Section 448 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Application
448. Sections 445 to 447 apply only in respect of charges applicable to deposit accounts with the bank in Canada and services provided by the bank in Canada.
Marginal note:Retail deposit accounts
448.1 (1) Subject to regulations made under subsection (3), a member bank shall, at any prescribed point of service in Canada or any branch in Canada at which it opens retail deposit accounts through a natural person, open a retail deposit account for an individual who meets the prescribed conditions at his or her request made there in person.
Marginal note:No minimum deposit or balance requirements
(2) A member bank shall not require that, in the case of an account opened under subsection (1), the individual make an initial minimum deposit or maintain a minimum balance.
Marginal note:Regulations
(3) The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) for the purposes of subsection (1), defining “point of service” and prescribing points of service;
(b) respecting circumstances in which subsection (1) does not apply; and
(c) prescribing conditions to be met by an individual for the purposes of subsection (1).
Marginal note:Low-fee retail deposit accounts — regulations
448.2 The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) requiring a member bank, at any prescribed point of service in Canada or any branch referred to in subsection 448.1(1), to open a low-fee retail deposit account for an individual who meets the prescribed conditions at his or her request made there in person;
(b) for the purposes of paragraph (a), defining “point of service” and prescribing points of service;
(c) prescribing the characteristics, including the name, of a low-fee retail deposit account;
(d) respecting circumstances in which a regulation made under paragraph (a) does not apply; and
(e) prescribing conditions to be met by an individual for the purposes of paragraph (a).
118. Section 449 of the Act, as enacted by section 49 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”
449. For the purposes of this section and sections 449.1 to 456, “cost of borrowing” means, in respect of a loan made by a bank,
(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 bank; 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.
119. The Act is amended by adding the following before section 455:
Complaints
120. (1) Paragraph 455(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 a bank;
(2) If this section comes into force before paragraph 455(1)(a) of the Act, as enacted by section 52 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 52 of that Act is repealed.
(3) Subsection 455(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Procedures to be filed with Commissioner
(2) A bank shall file with the Commissioner a copy of its procedures established under paragraph (1)(a).
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).
126. Section 462 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Effect of writ, etc.
462. (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the following documents are binding on property belonging to a person and in the possession of a bank, or on money owing to a person by reason of a deposit account in a bank, only if the document or a notice of it is served at the branch of the bank 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 bank with respect to a customer of the bank, other than a document referred to in subsection (1) or (3), constitutes notice to the bank and fixes the bank with knowledge of its contents only if sent to and received at the branch of the bank 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 bank 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 bank, for the purpose of subsection (3), of a place in any province for the service of enforcement notices in respect of support orders and support provisions;
(b) prescribing the manner in which a bank shall publicize the locations of designated offices of the bank; 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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