Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
Thank you for inviting the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) to appear before you today to discuss Bill C-37.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is the prudential regulator of federal financial institutions. Prudential means we are concerned with the safety and soundness of financial institutions, which contributes to the overall stability of the financial system. Our mandate does not extend to market conduct or consumer-related issues, which are the responsibility of other organizations both at the federal and provincial levels.
In short, OSFI supervises federal financial institutions to determine whether they are in sound financial condition and complying with legislation. We are required to advise promptly in situations where there are material deficiencies affecting safety and soundness, and to take, or require management and boards of directors to take, necessary corrective measures in an expeditious fashion.
We also promote the adoption of policies and procedures to control and manage risk with financial institutions, and monitor and evaluate systemwide or sectoral issues that may impact institutions negatively.
Regular legislative reviews provide an opportunity to ensure that Canadian legislation promotes an efficient, competitive, and safe financial services sector. In any legislative review, OSFI is interested in the following: first, whether proposed legislative changes increase risk to financial institutions, thus creating major prudential concerns; second, whether the legislation is clear, because we administer compliance with most provisions of the act; third, whether OSFI has the authority it needs to act when necessary, so whether the prudential tool kit needs to be enhanced; and lastly, whether the regulatory burden can be eliminated in cases where it is clear that legislative requirements, which may have been necessary at one point in time, are no longer necessary from a prudential perspective.
In our judgment, Bill C-37 does not increase risk to the financial institutions we regulate. Further, Canada already has a framework with prudential tools that are consistent with international norms for strong regulatory regimes, thanks to changes introduced in previous legislative reviews.
As a result, OSFI did not seek significant new prudential measures as part of this review. However, there are several elements in Bill C-37 that would help us to be more effective, because they would bring clarity to certain areas of the act that we administer, and would eliminate some legislative requirements that are no longer considered useful, thus cutting red tape and regulatory burden.
A strong and efficient regulatory framework, one in which Canadians and those outside Canada can have a high degree of confidence, is critical to Canada's economic performance. In the opinion of OSFI, passage of Bill C-37 would help contribute to that confidence.
I would be pleased to answer any questions that the committee members may have.
Thank you.