Bill S-5 (Historical)

Financial System Review Act

An Act to amend the law governing financial institutions and to provide for related and consequential matters

This enactment amends a number of Acts governing financial institutions. It also amends legislation related to the regulation of financial institutions. Notable among the amendments are the following:
(a) amendments to the Bank Act, the Cooperative Credit Associations Act, the Insurance Companies Act and the Trust and Loan Companies Act aimed at reinforcing stability and fine-tuning the consumer-protection framework; and
(b) technical amendments to the Bank Act, the Cooperative Credit Associations Act, the Insurance Companies Act, the Trust and Loan Companies Act, the Bank of Canada Act, the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act, the Canadian Payments Act, the Winding-up and Restructuring Act, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Act, the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act.

Motion in Amendment

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, we spend a lot of time talking about banks when discussing this bill, and for just reason. Even so, I am interested in hearing a comment on the whole area of credit unions.

Credit unions have played a significant role filling in where a lot of banks, and the banking industry as a whole, have been closing down some of their branch offices. Many of the constituents I represent want to see a larger role for the Assiniboine Credit Union, the Steinbach Credit Union and credit unions in general.

I wonder if the member would comment on credit unions in regard to this particular bill.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West—Glanbrook, ON]

Madam Speaker, credit unions do play a vital role. I bank at a credit union and I think they provide an important role.

When we look at context of what we are dealing with here today, all that is being done by this government bears mentioning again. Making sure that our banking system is stable is just one of those mechanisms. The other measures that we need to look at are cutting taxes; continuing to spend money on R and D; and creating opportunities for our goods, which means reaching free trade deals around the world. There is a whole combination of initiatives we need to take to continue to make our economy strong and to provide an opportunity for us to continue to grow in the future.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Madam Speaker, there are some really technical pieces to this legislation. Amongst those technical pieces are measures such as thresholds for bank ownership and ownership thresholds on financial institutions.

Can the member tell me why the large bank ownership threshold is being increased as part of this piece of legislation?

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West—Glanbrook, ON]

Madam Speaker, as we look at the changes taking place around the world, it is important that we continue to keep pace with them. One of the reasons we are looking to increase thresholds from $8 billion to $12 billion is to reflect growth in the sector and to ensure that we keep up with those requirements as we continue to grow.

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to begin with a quotation from Mr. Hollande, the socialist party candidate in the French presidential election. He said:

...my real adversary has no name, no face, no party. It will never run for office, will never be elected, and yet it governs. My adversary is the world of finance.

We had a golden opportunity to make major legislative changes that would have benefited all Canadians, not just the financial institutions as institutions, but also the people who use them, the people who need them, the people who deal with them.

The first problem with this bill is that it comes from the Senate, an unelected institution that does not include a single NDP member even though the NDP is the official opposition. Naturally, as a New Democrat, I have issues with that. We have been left out of the back-room-election-making and fundraiser-ticket-selling club. We are not there, and that is a shame.

This also means that those people are not listening to Canadians. They are not accountable to the public nor did they even hear from them. This bill was introduced surreptitiously, but Canadians deserve more. They deserve to see more studies, more deliberation and much more ideological exploration. The people in the other place did nothing more than gather a few technical facts. They did not ask any questions about how Canada's future should look in terms of wealth distribution. No such questions were raised in the Senate. Those people are not accountable to Canadians. That is the first problem.

Let us also talk briefly about something much more serious. At present, the large corporate financial institutions, taken together, have access to a pool of $500 billion. That $500 billion is not being used at this time. If only a small fraction of that money were invested in industry, this would generate substantial economic gains for Canada. Instead of exporting Canada's raw materials, we could process them right here. But the financial sector is not interested in making that kind of investments.

The question is whether we want speculation and foreign takeovers and purchases, or whether we are simply trying to build a modern, competitive industry. This would have been an interesting question. It would have been appropriate to bring in regulations to limit increases in speculation in order to steer our financial capital towards what our industrial capital needs. That is not the case here. Unfortunately, that is never the case with the Liberals or the Conservatives. They are always seeking immediate gain. It would have been better to look more than just a few years ahead and to look at what we can do better. None of that was considered in this bill.

There is another problem. In Canada, the co-operative sector plays a major role. It was introduced, in the past, in Canadian operations. There is also the phenomenon of mutualization inherent in the co-operative system. It is not protected and that is too bad. The co-operative system needed to be protected from privatizations whereby all the capital of past generations is divided among the current owners or members of the co-operative. This means that all the sacrifices made by past generations in order to create a co-operative will be distributed to a few individuals. There have been some abuses in the past, there are some happening in the present and, unfortunately, there will be some unacceptable abuses in the future. There is no mention of that, but it is a financial sector that deserves to be defended.

Where do consumers fit in all this?

Households are currently overloaded with debt in part because of the inflated value of homes and the speculative nature of purchasing a home. People are taking on too much debt and that debt is not going down.

Unfortunately, this is triggering bankruptcies at a time when salaries are stagnating and prices are increasing, including the cost of borrowing. As a result, the Canadian financial system is becoming an aggressive force against consumers. Consumers are paying dearly: 19% interest on credit cards, very low interest rates on deposits, extremely low returns on RRSPs. All these flaws remain unaddressed.

The bill could have addressed credit cards. By all accounts, 19% interest on credit cards is excessive. The bill could have put a cap on the glut of credit that causes people to go further into debt. This could have been limited or tightly regulated. That is not the case.

With respect to holds on deposits, apparently the fact that a $1,500 federal government cheque will not have to be held, that financial institutions will be required to deposit it immediately, is a major development. However, this was already included in a previously passed bill. It is not a major development.

The representative of the Standing Committee on Finance, the member for Saint Boniface, made it sound as though this was a significant improvement. Representatives of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions told her that the only problem was that it was already being done, that the amendments to these laws are already reflected in current practices and that there were no improvements. That is a major problem. Much more could have been done.

There is also the matter of one-week holds on deposits of corporate paycheques. This period is far too long. It could have been reduced through regulations. There are abuses and red tape. This government boasts about wanting to minimize red tape and, in this instance, it has failed big time.

Finally, there is no mention in the bill about a whole host of new financial products, such as commercial paper and derivatives. That is dangerous. The Conservatives say that our financial institutions are highly regulated and that our system is doing well because of regulations governing our access to credit. That is fine, but the bill deals with financial products that already exist.

As we saw in 2008, the problem lies with all the financial products not governed by any regulations. This proved to be very costly for Canada, and people are still paying the price, especially in their RRSPs. These plans and Canadian pension funds sustained major losses. The situation has not been addressed by this bill, which does not protect consumers. The bill does not protect pension plan members. It only protects a financial system that wants rapid and massive growth, looks for the quickest profits, and is not interested in the general prosperity of Canada, only in the prosperity of its financial institutions.

In view of the fact that the legislation will be reviewed in five years, we have missed a good opportunity to finally meet our economic needs and to come up with something useful, if only in terms of available capital, ensuring that the industry has the means to promote investment. This would help Canada in these times.

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate that my colleague, who is an active member and participant in the finance committee, brings a lot of passion to his role and our role in trying to ensure that the financial legislation and efforts we make here with respect to proper and accountable banking rules and regulations are put forward in a good common sense fashion.

Could he comment on what appears to be nonchalance on behalf of the government as it relates to legislation like this, which it likes to class as technical in nature and therefore not that important? The government could have done what he already has suggested, which is move forward with some real and proper protections for consumers. Could he comment on that?

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Madam Speaker, there was indeed a golden opportunity to limit some types of abuse. Good heavens, how can I say this in a way that is polite and parliamentary? Clearly, there are sharks in Canada and, unfortunately, consumers are the goldfish in the aquarium. And yet, the government is not making any changes.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member spoke to us about household debt, and also about some kinds of unregulated speculation. Could he elaborate on this shortcoming in the bill?

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Madam Speaker, right now, the entire bill oriented toward speculation or immediate gain in the financial sector.

In the real estate sector, the decision was made to promote housing accessibility. That is fine, but unfortunately, more and more people are overburdened by debt as a result of interest rates and business practices. The average household debt to income ratio has now reached 125% or even 150%. This ratio is over 175% in the Vancouver area because of a significant housing bubble. That is unacceptable. We are about to hit a wall. If the Canadian housing bubble ever bursts, the entire Canadian economy will suffer.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member's intervention today. As he said earlier, there are a number of technical aspects to this, and he spoke about some of the things that he viewed should have been done. However, there were some key things that were accomplished through the legislation that were different from previous versions of the legislation. One of those was the approval of foreign acquisitions by banks. Under this legislation, the authority to approve foreign acquisitions by banks is being returned to the minister.

In his appreciable understanding of this legislation, why does he think that is important?

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Madam Speaker, all in all, with all due respect to the Conservative member, what was important was the approval by the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. The fact that this operation is being politicized does not seem particularly relevant. What was really important was approval by the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the criteria upon which that approval was based.

The NDP wanted to point out that this measure needed to be good not only for the health of financial institutions but also for Canada's economy. Our colleagues on the Standing Committee on Finance found that it was unacceptable for the government to simply say that this would be good for the Canadian economy. I find this situation to be extremely unfortunate. The truly critical element was the criteria upon which the approval would be based.

[Jay Aspin, Conservative, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the third and final reading of the financial system review act, Bill S-5.

I will begin by saying that Bill S-5 is important to the strength of Canada's financial system and I will briefly describe how it came about.

Every five years, the government conducts a review of the policy framework governing federally regulated financial institutions. The previous legislation review was completed in 2007. The present five year review was launched in September 2010 when the finance minister invited Canadians to share their views on improving our financial system by way of an open consultation process. This five year review process helps guarantee Canada keeps its status as a global leader in financial services and it maintains the soundness of the sector.

A key priority for our Conservative government is ensuring Canadians keep on having a strong and secure financial system and one that serves as a model for countries around the globe. Today's bill would ensure that continues to be the case. In fact, the World Economic Forum recently ranked Canada as having the soundest banks in the world for the fourth year in a row. Both in Canada and internationally, this strength has been widely recognized by independent observers.

Peter Worthington, noted Toronto Sun columnist, declared:

Canada’s banking system is now widely recognized as arguably the world’s best. No Canadians fear for their deposits as many Americans do.

An Ottawa Citizen editorial reads:

Our banking and financial system is the envy of the world. While the great money edifices of countries such as the U.S., Britain and Switzerland cracked at the beginning of the recession, Canadian banks stood firm.

However, as I mentioned earlier, this recognition stretches well beyond Canada's shores, as it is repeated around the globe.

David Cameron, Britain's prime minister, has heralded our system by saying:

In the last few years, Canada has got every major decision right. Look at the facts. Not a single Canadian bank fell or faltered during the global banking crisis. ... Your economic leadership has helped the Canadian economy to weather the global storms far better than many of your international competitors.

The Irish Times has applauded it by saying:

Canada’s policy of fiscal discipline and strict banking supervision was a reason why it was one of the world’s strongest performers during the recession.

The Economist, the renowned magazine, has recently asserted that “Canada has had an easier time than most during the recently global recession, in part, because of a conservative and well-regulated banking system”.

The financial ratings agency Fitch, when reviewing Canada's top tier AAA credit rating, focused its assessment on the fact that “Canada's banks proved more resilient than many peers thanks to a conservative regulation and supervision environment.

I share and welcome that high praise.

Furthermore, the financial services sector has a significant role in the health of the Canadian economy. Not only does it represent 7% of Canada's GDP, it is also responsible for over 750,000 good, well-paying jobs. It also plays a distinctive, indispensable function in fuelling the growth, nurturing financial stability and safeguarding savings, all of which are necessary for the success of Canada's economy.

Today's bill would contribute to the continued strength of Canada's financial system. Indeed, the mandatory five year review that shaped today's bill is key to helping set apart Canada from almost all other countries. This practice makes certain that the laws governing our financial system are reviewed and updated on a regular basis, ensuring they are responsive to an ever-changing global marketplace.

In a similar vein, the global financial crisis of the past few years has underlined why a stable and well-functioning housing market is necessary for the financial system and overall economy.

While Canada's financial system remains sound, well-capitalized and less leveraged than its international counterparts, our government proactively acted to bolster the stability in our housing market by adjusting our mortgage insurance guarantee framework. This included reducing the maximum amortization period for government-backed insured mortgages with loan-to-value ratios greater than 80% from 35 years to 30 years.

As well, we withdrew government insurance from home equity lines of credit and lowered reduced borrowing limits in refinancing.

Independent observers and economists have roundly applauded such adjustments. For instance, a recent Waterloo Region Record editorial said, “The federal government has done the right thing in tightening up the rules for mortgages in this country”. A Calgary Herald editorial added, “...the right direction...it is good to see the government continue to be vigilant on this file”.

Without a doubt, our Conservative government is working hard renewing many key fundamentals of our financial system and strengthening it with new tools.

Through the financial system review act, we are modernizing, fine-tuning and harmonizing the existing framework to ensure it keeps the high level of performance. Canadians know and understand that the present framework that has made our financial system the soundest in the world functions well.

That is why the financial system review act seeks to build on, not rebuild, that solid foundation with a proposed legislative package that includes measures to: better focus financial institutions legislation to support financial stability and guarantee Canada's financial institutions keep operating in a competitive, effective and stable environment; fine-tune the consumer protection framework, including further improving the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's powers; and reduce the administrative red tape on financial institutions to enhance efficiency and add regulatory flexibility.

Other measures contained in today's bill include: increasing the capability of regulators to effectively share information in a timely manner with international counterparts while respecting privacy laws; guaranteeing the right to cash government cheques under $1,500 free of charge at any bank in Canada to all Canadians; enabling co-operative credit associations to provide technology services to a broader market to promote competition and innovation; and much more.

I am happy to note that many public interest groups have given their strong endorsement of today's bill. For instance, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association declared:

It is important that legislation be periodically reviewed so that it keeps up with the changing environment.

The industry welcomes a number of measures outlined in...[the financial services review act].

Today's bill would strengthen stability in the financial sector, improve the consumer protection framework and modify the regulatory framework to new developments. It provides for a renewed structure that will benefit all Canadians.

We recognize that, to remain a global model of stability and ensure the soundness of the financial sector for all Canadians, routinely reviewing what regulatory changes are necessary to foster competitiveness is essential.

The financial system review act upholds the long-standing tradition of ensuring standard reviews of the regulatory framework for financial institutions to keep a stable and secure financial sector. For that reason, I urge all members to support for all Canadians today's bill and the continued safety and security of our shared financial system.

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Madam Speaker, does the member share my concerns about what is happening with the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, the organization that was set up to properly monitor the practices of the banks? It is an independent group as opposed to the banks themselves setting up dispute resolution mechanisms. This is an arm's-length body that would resolve disputes between consumers, be they individuals, companies or otherwise. Two of the major banks have pulled out, making this service ineffective, and it is now looking at closing its doors.

I wonder if he shares my concerns that now there will not be any independent dispute resolution body and that it will be left up to the banks to do as they wish.

[Jay Aspin, Conservative, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

Madam Speaker, that certainly is one mechanism that could provide input, but speaking specifically to this particular bill, we would like to move ahead with this bill because we have gained in excess of 30 deputations on behalf of various groups in this review. This review, as members know, is mandatory and it takes place every five years. I am comfortable that the process in place will give us the fruitful requirements we need for regulation and to maintain the banking stability in Canada.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Madam Speaker, earlier I had asked one of the opposition members a question about the authority to approve foreign acquisitions by banks being returned to the minister in this legislation. The global banking crisis has highlighted additional risk factors that support more oversight to keep our financial system secure and, therefore, this legislation will require ministerial approval when a federally regulated financial institution acquires a major foreign entity that significantly increases its assets by more than 10%. I wonder if the member could comment on the particular two criteria that the minister would consider.