The FCAC derives its role and mandate from the Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada Act. The Act outlines our functions, administration
and enforcement powers, and lists the sections of federal consumer-oriented laws
and regulations (called "consumer provisions") under our supervision.
Mandate
Our mandate consists of two key responsibilities:
-
Consumer protection. This involves overseeing and reporting on the compliance
of federally regulated financial institutions with legislative requirements. It also involves monitoring self-regulatory initiatives that are designed to protect consumer interests.
These institutions include all banks and all
federally incorporated or registered insurance, trust and loan companies and
co-operative credit associations.
- Consumer education. This includes activities to help build financial knowledge
and consumers' awareness of their rights.
Role
The FCAC has five objectives:
- Supervise financial institutions to ensure they comply with federal consumer
protection measures (known as "consumer
provisions") that apply to them.
- Promote the adoption by financial institutions of policies and procedures
designed to implement the consumer provisions.
- Monitor if financial institutions follow their own voluntary
codes of conduct and respect the public commitments they have made to
protect the interests of consumers.
- Promote awareness of the obligations
of financial institutions.
- Foster an understanding of financial services and issues relating to financial
services.
Compliance
As a regulatory agency, the FCAC can exercise its enforcement powers to ensure
that financial institutions comply with the consumer provisions of the various
federal acts relating to financial services,
including:
- the Bank Act
- the Insurance Companies Act
- the Trust and Loan Companies Act
- the Co-operative Credit Associations Act
- the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act
In cases of contravention or non-compliance, we notify the financial institution
of a violation. We may also, depending on the severity and frequency of the problem:
- seek a commitment from the financial institution to remedy the issue within
a short time frame
- impose a monetary penalty
- impose criminal sanctions
- take other actions as necessary
Reporting requirements
The FCAC reports to the Minister of Finance on the Agency’s activities and the
legislative framework for consumer protection. In addition, each year the FCAC
prepares an annual report for Parliament. It describes:
- the Agency’s operations
- the performance of financial institutions in complying with consumer protection
provisions
- the procedures that financial institutions have in place for dealing with
complaints
- the number and nature of complaints that have been brought to the Agency’s
attention
|
