October 2002 marked the first anniversary of the proclamation of Canada's Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act. The Act makes fundamental changes in the areas of financial institution ownership, investment, operations, corporate governance, consumer protection, and foreign bank branch regulation, thereby potentially having significant influence on the business decisions of Canada's financial institutions. New ownership regimes mean banks and insurance companies are now categorized according to size based on shareholder equity. New rules permit expanded interests to be held in Canadian financial institutions. In addition, regulated, non-operating bank and insurance holding companies may be established.
November 01 2002
