Superintendent Memorandum -- Professional Conduct and Publicity of Decisions

Pursuant to his legislative mandate, the Superintendent of Bankruptcy is responsible for supervising and monitoring the administration of estate files. In this regard, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) has assumed as a mission the protection of the insolvency system in Canada.

The OSB has therefore worked over the last few years to improve various programs and processes aimed at ensuring that all the players comply with the applicable sections of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), Rules and Directives. These various initiatives are aimed at anticipating, detecting and sanctioning any breaches of the applicable standards.

One important component of the protection of the system is the process through which licensing decisions are made pursuant to sections 14.01 and 14.02 of the BIA as well as the publicizing and distribution of these decisions.

I am therefore attaching a copy of the process leading up to the exercising of the decisional powers provided for under the BIA with regard to the professional conduct of trustees as well as a copy of the Policy on Publicizing Professional Conduct Matters. You will note that the latter is applicable not only to professional conduct matters (section 14.02 BIA), but also to any other decision that could affect a trustee's licence (subsection 13.2(5) BIA).

Highlights

The highlights of the process provided for in sections 14.01 and 14.02 can be summarized as follows: 

1. The process for investigation and decisions is not subject to the provincial disciplinary law that is applicable to a number of other professions. It is essentially the exercise by a federal board of a statutory power, the review of which falls under the rules of federal administrative law. Thus, decisions related to the professional conduct of trustees are only subject to review by the Federal Court as provided for under subsection 14.02 (5) BIA.
   
   
2. The report on the trustee's professional conduct constitutes the notice withreasons referred to in subsection 14.02(1) BIA.
   
   
3. This notice (or report) forms part of the record of hearing referred to in subsection 14.02(3) BIA. The record of hearing is considered opened as soon as the Superintendent receives the notice with reasons.
   
   
4. Given that the record of hearing is public (14.02(3)), the notice with reasons or the report on the trustee's conduct becomes public as soon as it is received by the Superintendent. This report is distributed as per the Policy on Publicizing Professional Conduct Matters, of which you will also find a copy attached.
   
   
5. The hearing on the trustee's professional conduct is public and a notice of the hearing is forwarded in a timely fashion to the individuals listed in the aforementioned policy.
   
   

For an overview of this policy, the reader should refer in particular to paragraphs 11 and 13, which list who should receive the notice of hearing and the decision concerning the trustee's professional conduct.

This process and policy will be applied to all files, pending or future, starting September 1^st, 2001.

For additional information regarding this process and policy, please contact the Hearing Record Registry at the following address: 

Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy
Jean Edmonds Tower South
365 Laurier Avenue West
8^th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C8
Tel: (613) 941-2691
Fax: (613) 946-9205
E-mail: cousineau.vivian@ic.gc.ca

The Superintendent of Bankruptcy

Marc Mayrand