Thank you. Mr. Chair and honourable committee members, good afternoon.
Mr. Chair, honourable members, good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you.
Since the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation is not often called to this committee, I would like to begin my remarks by providing you with a brief snapshot of the work of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, the CDIC. I will then comment on the role of CDIC as part of the Auditor General's fall 2010 report on the regulation and supervision of large banks. I will keep these opening remarks short and would direct you to additional information in our written submission.
CDIC is an independent crown corporation that is fully accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Finance. CDIC currently has 84 member institutions consisting of banks, trust and loan companies, and one retail association. The corporation is funded by premiums paid by these members and does not receive any parliamentary appropriations.
CDIC insures eligible deposits at each of our member institutions up to a maximum of $100,000 per depositor in each of seven categories of deposits. These include eligible funds held in basic accounts, joint and trust accounts, along with registered retirement savings plans, registered retirement income funds, and tax-free savings accounts. As of April 2010, we insured over $600 billion in deposits.
In addition to the provision of deposit insurance, CDIC contributes to the stability of the financial system in Canada. In order to achieve this part of our mandate, we work closely with all of the federal financial safety net agencies. The report of the Auditor General attests to this very effective working relationship with my fellow panelists from the Department of Finance and OSFI, along with the Bank of Canada and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
I can add, from an international perspective, that the Canadian model of financial safety net agencies working together is the envy of many deposit insurers around the world.
CDIC was pleased to participate in this review by the Auditor General of the federal agencies responsible for the regulation and supervision of large banking institutions.
In speaking to the three recommendations in the fall 2010 report, CDIC factors indirectly into the first and third recommendations. Recommendation number one relates to the work of the senior advisory committee, or SAC, chaired by the Department of Finance. From a CDIC perspective, this committee and its numerous working groups provide invaluable and effective exchanges on a number of topics of importance in the financial sector. Coordination bodies such as SAC, the FISC, or the financial institutions supervisory committee, chaired by the superintendent and the CDIC board of directors, have proven vital during the financial crisis to stay ahead of emerging issues and to coordinate actions.
The third recommendation in the report addresses data and information requests to financial institutions. Given the compact size of CDIC, there is no duplication with regard to information requests of our members. We rely primarily on data collected by OSFI and through the umbrella of the financial information committee to carry out much of our risk assessment work. CDIC's specific data collection activities are associated with statutory and bylaw provisions, in particular those involving the collection of premiums from our member institutions.
This concludes my opening remarks. I would of course be pleased to answer any questions.
This concludes my opening remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions. Thank you for your attention.