Canada: Finance and Banking

This monthly summary tracks Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments affecting federally regulated financial institutions, covering updates from OSFI, FINTRAC, Payments Canada...

This monthly summary tracks Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments affecting federally regulated financial institutions, covering updates from OSFI, Bank of Canada, FINTRAC, and international bodies.

The Reporter provides a monthly summary of Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments of relevance to federally regulated financial institutions. It does not address Canadian provincial financial services legislative and regulatory developments. In addition, purely technical and administrative changes (such as changes to reporting forms) are not covered.

Section 160 of the Income Tax Act (ITA) is one of the most potent collection tools available to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). While most tax liabilities are personal to the individual who earned the income, section 160 creates a form of “derivative” or secondary liability.

On June 24, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) published new Guidance on the Fit and Proper Test for Approved Persons (GN-9200-26-001) (the Guidance), replacing the Oct. 14, 2021, IIROC Guidance Note on this issue

Picture this: a borrower is relying on a revolving credit facility to meet working capital needs. Suddenly, it is told by its lender that a “material adverse event” has occurred, and the facility is now being frozen or called. What does this mean, and what can the borrower do?

If you are a Muslim homebuyer weighing a halal mortgage against a conventional one, the product that keeps you offside your faith may still put you offside the taxman in ways a conventional mortgage never would.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has clarified how construction lenders and contractors rank in priority disputes when a developer becomes insolvent.

A Certificate of Pending Litigation (CPL) is a common remedy used by a party claiming an interest in real property. Once registered on title, a CPL puts prospective purchasers and other parties dealing with the property on notice that an interest in the property is being claimed adverse to the registered owner.

The Canada Revenue Agency’s access to information about cryptocurrency and other crypto-assets is entering a new phase. Canadian taxpayers have always been responsible for identifying, valuing, classifying, and reporting taxable crypto activity, even where an exchange issued no Canadian tax slip, the transaction occurred through a foreign platform, or the assets were never converted into Canadian dollars. 

The Canadian Securities Administrators have proposed sweeping amendments to Canada's take-over bid, issuer bid and beneficial ownership reporting regimes that would fundamentally reshape how Canadian issuers repurchase their own securities and how market participants disclose their economic positions during contested transactions.

The Bank of Canada (the Bank) has begun to exercise its enforcement powers under the Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA), publishing its first enforcement decisions involving Notices of Violation against payment service providers (PSPs). Each published enforcement decision to date has involved a zero dollar administrative monetary penalty (AMP).