Browse regulations

Defines 'widely distributed' debt obligations and prescribes specific international development agencies under the Bank Act, setting numeric thresholds (90% ownership, 25+ holders) for prospectus exemptions.

Arbitrary regulatory thresholds and prescriptive agency lists distort market mechanisms, increase compliance costs, and create barriers to capital formation that cannot be justified by demonstrated market failures; these determinations are better left to market participants and judicial interpretation.

Exempts foreign governments or their subdivisions that do not conduct banking or financial services activities in Canada from being classified as 'foreign banks' under the Bank Act, thereby excluding them from the regulatory regime applicable to foreign banks.

Deleting this exemption would impose unnecessary Bank Act restrictions on passive foreign government investors, potentially reducing beneficial capital inflows and increasing compliance burdens without enhancing financial stability or consumer protection.

Defines 'equity' for insurance companies and insurance holding companies as shareholders' equity plus minority interests in consolidated financial statements, as required under the Insurance Companies Act.

Without standardized definition, inconsistent equity calculations would undermine solvency monitoring, regulatory capital requirements, and consumer protection in the insurance sector.

Defines 'equity' for trust and loan companies as shareholders' equity plus minority interests in consolidated financial statements; includes obsolete coming-into-force clause from 2001.

Redundant with standard accounting definitions; courts would interpret 'equity' using ordinary business principles. Adds no substantive constraint or essential clarity, yet contributes to regulatory accumulation and complexity. The coming-into-force clause is purely historical and provides zero current value.

Defines 'equity' for cooperative credit associations as the sum of book value of shares and membership shares from consolidated financial statements, with an October 24, 2001 coming into force date.

Canadians would be worse off without this definition, as it ensures consistent financial reporting and regulatory compliance for cooperative credit associations, preventing ambiguity that could undermine financial stability and member protections.

Defines 'financial statement equity' and establishes calculation methods for bank/bank holding company equity under the Bank Act, including 'acting in concert' rules to aggregate ownership for regulatory limits.

Deleting would create regulatory uncertainty, enabling manipulation of capital measurements and ownership limits, increasing financial instability. Clear rules ensure consistent application in a regulated banking system where ambiguity invites arbitrage and risk.

These regulations exempt certain entities associated with foreign banks from being classified as "associated" for the purpose of Bank Act restrictions, allowing governments, their controlled entities, and specific corporate structures to operate without triggering foreign bank regulatory limitations.

The regulations prevent foreign bank restrictions from unnecessarily limiting government entities, controlled entities, and legitimate corporate structures that pose no systemic risk or competitive threat to the Canadian banking system. Without these exemptions, essential public services, government operations, and certain business arrangements would be unduly restricted, creating inefficiencies while achieving no additional financial stability benefits.

Regulation mandates trust and loan companies to disclose FCAN contact information (address/website) to consumers in brochures, statements, or separate documents, ensuring awarenes of regulatory recourse.

Imposes a compliance burden on businesses for information that is publicly available and would be provided voluntarily to assist customers; the regulation duplicates accessible government contact channels and adds minimal consumer value while increasing administrative costs.

Mandates that financial institutions provide the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's contact information in consumer documents such as account statements or brochures under the Cooperative Credit Associations Act.

Imposes compliance costs while providing negligible benefit; the regulator's contact details are publicly available. This paternalistic requirement increases administrative burden, stifles market innovation in disclosure formats, and entrenches unnecessary state intervention in private financial relationships.

The regulation prescribes that insurance companies must inform consumers about the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) contact details and the manner in which this information is to be provided (e.g., in brochures, statements, or separate documents) as part of required disclosures under the Insurance Companies Act.

Imposes a trivial but unnecessary compliance burden on insurers for information that consumers can obtain independently, adding to regulatory complexity with negligible public benefit.

This regulation requires insurance companies to provide contact information for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) to consumers, either through existing disclosure documents or separate documents, enabling consumers to access information about their rights and recourse options.

Canadians would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it ensures consumers have access to independent information about their rights and recourse options when dealing with insurance companies. Without this requirement, many consumers would be unaware of the FCAC's existence and their ability to seek assistance with complaints or questions about insurance products, leaving them more vulnerable to unfair practices and reducing market accountability.

Document shows only repealed sections with no active provisions remaining

Already repealed by SOR/2013-48 and SOR/2009-60; no current regulatory effect

This document is not a substantive regulation but merely a statement indicating that sections 1, 2, and 3 have been repealed by earlier statutory instruments (SOR/2013-48 and SOR/2009-59). It imposes no requirements, prohibitions, or mechanisms.

The document is entirely obsolete and non-operational. It serves no function other than to annotate prior repeals, creating unnecessary clutter in the regulatory corpus. Retaining it adds confusion without any countervailing benefit. There are no unintended consequences of deletion because it contains no rules to begin with.

The regulation document contains only sections 1-7, all marked as repealed by SOR/2015-26, s. 89. No active regulatory provisions remain.

These sections are already legally repealed and void. Keeping references to repealed provisions creates unnecessary administrative clutter and confusion without serving any legitimate purpose.

This regulation defines key terms used in the Insurance Companies Act, including 'commercial loan' (listing prescribed international agencies), 'widely distributed' (securities distribution criteria), 'prescribed subsidiaries' (exclusion rules for various insurance entities), 'prescribed percentage' (typically 5% or 100%), and 'total assets' (balance sheet calculations with subsidiary adjustments). It is purely technical legislation implementing the Act.

These definitions provide necessary objective criteria that make the Insurance Companies Act enforceable; without them, critical regulatory thresholds would be undefined, creating legal uncertainty for insurers, undermining solvency oversight, and potentially harming policyholder protection and financial stability.