Nov 2, 2016
The federal government is aiming to bring the oversight of Canada’s banks back under its authority, according to an article in the Financial Post. In the article, reporter Barbara Shecter examines budget implementation legislation that was recently introduced to re-establish the argument that “only the federal government — not the provinces — can regulate banking products and services.” As the article points out, the move would “counteract a ‘sea-changing’ decision” made by the Supreme Court of Canada two years ago in the Marcotte case, which obligated banks to be subject to both federal law under the Bank Act as well as consumer protection laws in each province.
If enacted, the bill would create a “comprehensive federal consumer code” applicable to all federally regulated banks and credit unions. Kashif Zaman, a partner in Osler’s Financial Services Practice Group, tells the Financial Post that the new law would affect more than 50 domestic and foreign banks operating in Canada. Kashif also states, as indicated in one of his recent articles, that the changes proposed in the bill “lay a strong foundation” for Ottawa’s argument, though the language “has yet to be tested in Canadian courts.”
Read more in Barbara Shecter’s full article “Ottawa moves to bring bank oversight back under its sole control” in the Financial Post.