Finance committee  The premium level has not been adjusted in the last few years, but as I mentioned earlier, we do examine it annually and we provide a recommendation to the government as to what premiums should be in the future year.

Finance committee  I won't comment as to whether or not the government would choose to make an increase, but I would point out that our rates of premiums, as compared to other jurisdictions, particularly the one south of the border, are extremely modest in the overall scheme of things. As well they should be, because we have not had a failure in recent years.

Finance committee  That's correct.

Finance committee  I think in this environment there are a lot more challenges than there were even at this time last year. Whether or not there will be any actual member institutions that find themselves so challenged as to fail, I really can't comment.

Finance committee  No, definitely we cannot name member institutions.

Finance committee  I will clarify. We do not cover insurance companies. We're restricted to deposit-taking institutions, and as I said earlier, we don't name any specific institution.

Finance committee  Yes. I think it's fair to say that the degree of cooperation and information-sharing is very good, not just in OSFI but in the whole structure in Ottawa.

Finance committee  That is correct. They pay premiums.

Finance committee  Is that addressed to me or...?

Finance committee  With respect to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, it's not in our mandate to examine those things.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Maloway. Your ratio is approximately right, but the numbers are a little bit different. The $6 billion you refer to is our line of credit to borrow. We also have a reserve of about $1.6 billion sitting in our own accounts right now. So the grand total would still be low relative to the $512 billion of total deposits covered.

Finance committee  No. Over the years we have had that experience. We just have been very fortunate, thanks to the strong economy and the strong regulatory structures in Canada, in not having an institution fail in the last 13 years.

Finance committee  The decision as to the extent of coverage is, of course, made by Parliament. We implement whatever is mandated to us. Parliament last reviewed the coverage in 2005, I believe, and then it was moved from $60,000 to $100,000. The United States did announce, just this past year, a so-called temporary adjustment up to $250,000, but I have to defer to the government as to whether there would be any plans to alter that in Canada.

Finance committee  Well, I would make a couple of observations. First of all, as I said, the adjusted rate was introduced just in 2005. Another observation I'd make is that it applies to an individual deposit account. A Canadian citizen can have more than one deposit account, so if you had, for example, a deposit account with bank A and another deposit account with bank B, you would be eligible for up to $200,000 coverage, and so on.

Finance committee  Certainly. The answer is no, they're not members. I will let Michèle elaborate on that.