Thank you for the question.
As you surmised, this amendment will change the method. Currently, the decision comes from the superintendent. The review of the file begins when the financial institution submits an application, and then the review continues. Applying is a long and complex process that requires exchanging a lot of information as well as the gathering of information by the office. In short, the review of the file begins as soon as an application is submitted.
The superintendent's review is very exhaustive. It is an economic and legal review. A transaction is reviewed based on the contracts included in the file. The transaction is reviewed from an economic perspective, by considering the strength of the entity that is making the application and verifying if it has the financial strength to participate in the transaction in question. Ultimately, the people responsible for approvals at our agency make a recommendation to the superintendent, who then makes his decision.
With the proposed amendment—I don't remember your exact question anymore, but I suppose you want to know what will change if this amendment is passed—the final decision will be in the hands of the minister. However, that does not change anything about the process I have just described. In fact, the first step will be submitting the application to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. The office will then diligently conduct the same exhaustive study, from an economic and legal perspective. This will culminate in the recommendation submitted to the minister, who will then make the final decision.