Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
First of all, I want to welcome our witnesses to Ottawa.
Welcome to your Parliament. It is a pleasure to have you here.
Thank you for all the comments you provided at the beginning. I have to tell you that, if we go by your comments, there is actually no reason to hold these committee sessions. I can assure you that we have also heard some other testimony from Canadians, from former bank employees, and from the Canadian agency that regulates your industry.
Lucie Tedesco, the commissioner for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, told this committee that FCAC staff have been asked to review banks' sales practices. She told this committee that the FCAC is “assessing whether sales targets and incentive programs are contributing to sales practices that lead to poor outcomes for consumers.”
Let me just ask all three of you a series of questions. Be very brief, if you could, because I only have a certain amount of time for you to respond.
Has your bank been approached to provide information to the FCAC in the course of this review? If so, is this review specific to the practices of the head offices of the banks or to the branches of the banks?
Second, are there mechanisms in place at the head office to monitor the practices of what happens in your branches, particularly in relation to sales targets and incentive programs? If so, can you please describe these mechanisms? If you don't have these mechanisms, can you explain why not?