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Guidance and Education

In 2008-2009, OSFI spent a considerable amount of time dealing with technical issues related to the insuring in Canada of risks by foreign insurance companies under the “Foreign Companies” part of the Insurance Companies Act. Advisory 2007-01 was revised to provide greater certainty on circumstances where OSFI will consider that a foreign entity has insured in Canada risks. Issues related to the definitions of the classes of insurance, the use of the word “bank” by non-bank entities, the use of trade names by federal financial institutions, and self-dealing transactions were also addressed during the past year.

In keeping with OSFI’s objectives of enhancing the transparency of its statutory approvals process and of promoting better understanding of OSFI’s interpretation of the federal financial institution statutes, OSFI develops and publishes Advisories and Rulings. In 2008-2009, OSFI published one Advisory, Undertaking for the sharing of information (PDF Version, 37 KB), and the following four Rulings:

• Control in Fact – Major shareholder and service provider (PDF Version, 41 KB)
• Foreign Banks – Investments – Financial services entity (PDF Version, 36 KB)
• Alternate Name – Use of a trade name (PDF Version, 60 KB)
• Directors of Federally Regulated Entities – Agent of a Crown corporation (PDF Version, 44 KB)

In October 2008, in line with its objective to ensure strong external communication, OSFI hosted its seventh annual Legislation and Approvals Seminar, attended by approximately 120 representatives of financial institutions and advisors.

The Legislative Approvals framework was subjected to an internal audit in 2007-2008. The audit report, Regulation Sector, Approvals & Precedents Group (PDF Version, 173 KB), concluded that the approvals function is well-developed, applied in a consistent manner, and thorough in its analysis. The report made recommendations on several areas where practices and procedures could be improved, and we will be taking appropriate steps to address these to maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the framework. The final audit report can be found on OSFI’s Web site under About OSFI/ Reports/Internal Audit Reports.

In keeping with OSFI’s and the Government of Canada’s commitment to enhance accountability and transparency relating to services provided, OSFI has performance standards establishing time frames for processing applications for regulatory approval and for other services. In 2008-2009, OSFI met or exceeded all of these established performance standards. More information on OSFI’s performance standards can be found on our Web site under Banks/User Fees/Service Standards.

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