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Jobs and Economic Growth Act (S.C. 2010, c. 12)

Full Document:  

Assented to 2010-07-12

2001, c. 9Related Amendments to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act

 Section 2 of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

“payment card network operator”

« exploitant de réseau de cartes de paiement »

“payment card network operator” means an entity, as defined in section 3 of the Payment Card Networks Act, that operates or manages a payment card network, as defined in that section, including by establishing standards and procedures for the acceptance, transmission or processing of payment transactions and by facilitating the electronic transfer of information and funds.

 Section 3 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

  • Marginal note:Objects — payment card network operators

    (3) The objects of the Agency are also to

    • (a) supervise payment card network operators to determine whether they are in compliance with the provisions of the Payment Card Networks Act and its regulations;

    • (b) promote the adoption by payment card network operators of policies and procedures designed to implement the provisions of the Payment Card Networks Act and its regulations;

    • (c) monitor the implementation of voluntary codes of conduct that have been adopted by payment card network operators and that are publicly available, and to monitor any public commitments made by them regarding their commercial practices in relation to payment card networks; and

    • (d) promote public awareness about the obligations of payment card network operators under a voluntary code of conduct or under the Payment Card Networks Act.

  •  (1) Section 5 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

    • Marginal note:Functions — Payment Card Networks Act

      (1.1) The Commissioner shall also examine and inquire into, and report to the Minister from time to time on, all matters connected with the administration of the Payment Card Networks Act and its regulations.

  • (2) Section 5 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

    • Marginal note:Personal information

      (2.1) The Commissioner may also collect any personal information that he or she considers necessary in furtherance of the objects described in subsection 3(3).

  • (3) Section 5 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):

    • Marginal note:Review

      (3.1) If a payment card network operator has adopted a voluntary code of conduct or made a public commitment referred to in paragraph 3(3)(c), the Commissioner may make or cause to be made any review that he or she considers necessary to monitor compliance with the code or the commitment, as the case may be.

  • (4) Section 5 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (5):

    • Marginal note:Activities

      (6) The Commissioner may also carry on any activity that he or she considers necessary in furtherance of the objects described in subsection 3(3).

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 7:

Marginal note:Agreements — payment card network operators

7.1 In order to carry out the objects described in paragraph 3(3)(c), the Agency, in the name of Her Majesty in right of Canada or in its own name, may enter into an agreement with a payment card network operator, including an agreement respecting the provision of information or the payment of fees.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 14:

Marginal note:Ownership — payment card network operators

14.1 The Commissioner, a person appointed under subsection 4(4) or a Deputy Commissioner shall not hold, directly or indirectly, any interest or right in any shares of a payment card network operator.

  •  (1) Section 16 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

    • Marginal note:No grant or gratuity — payment card network operators

      (1.1) The Commissioner, a person appointed under subsection 4(4), a Deputy Commissioner and any person appointed under section 10 shall not accept or receive, directly or indirectly, any grant or gratuity from a payment card network operator, or any of its directors, officers or employees, and no payment card network operator, or any of its directors, officers or employees shall make or give any such grant or gratuity.

  • (2) The portion of subsection 16(2) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

    • Marginal note:Offence and punishment

      (2) Every person, financial institution, bank holding company, insurance holding company or payment card network operator that contravenes subsection (1) or (1.1) is guilty of an offence and liable

 Section 17 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

  • Marginal note:Confidential information — payment card network operators

    (3) Subject to subsection (4) and except as otherwise provided in this Act, information regarding the business or affairs of a payment card network operator, or regarding persons dealing with one, that is obtained by the Commissioner or by a person acting under the direction of the Commissioner, in the course of the exercise or performance of powers, duties and functions under subsection 5(1.1) or (2.1), and any information prepared from that information, is confidential and shall be treated accordingly.

  • Marginal note:Disclosure permitted

    (4) If the Commissioner is satisfied that the information will be treated as confidential by the person to whom it is disclosed, the Commissioner may disclose it to the Deputy Minister of Finance, or any officer of the Department of Finance authorized in writing by the Deputy Minister of Finance, for the purpose of policy analysis related to the regulation of payment card network operators.

  •  (1) Subsection 18(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    Marginal note:Commissioner to ascertain expenses
    • 18. (1) The Commissioner shall, before December 31 in each year, ascertain the total amount of expenses incurred during the immediately preceding fiscal year for or in connection with the administration of this Act and the consumer provisions — excluding the expenses incurred in connection with the objects described in subsection 3(3) — and the amounts of any prescribed categories of those expenses in relation to any prescribed group of financial institutions.

  • (2) Section 18 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (5):

    • Marginal note:Commissioner to ascertain expenses — payment card network operators

      (5.1) The Commissioner shall, before December 31 in each year, ascertain the total amount of expenses incurred during the immediately preceding fiscal year in connection with the objects described in paragraphs 3(3)(a), (b) and (d).

    • Marginal note:Amount conclusive

      (5.2) The amount ascertained under subsection (5.1) is final and conclusive for the purposes of this section.

    • Marginal note:Assessment

      (5.3) As soon as possible after ascertaining the amount under subsection (5.1), the Commissioner shall assess a portion of the total amount of expenses against each payment card network operator to the extent and in the manner that may be prescribed.

    • Marginal note:Interim assessment

      (5.4) The Commissioner may, during each fiscal year, prepare an interim assessment against any payment card network operator.

    • Marginal note:Assessment is binding

      (5.5) Every assessment and interim assessment is final and conclusive and binding on the payment card network operator against which it is made.

  •  (1) Subsection 19(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (a):

    • (a.1) designating, as a violation that may be proceeded with under sections 20 to 31, the contravention of a specified provision of the Payment Card Networks Act or its regulations;

    • (a.2) designating, as a violation that may be proceeded with under sections 20 to 31, the non-compliance with an agreement entered into under section 7.1;

  • Marginal note:2007, c. 6, s. 436

    (2) Subsection 19(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • Marginal note:Maximum penalties

      (2) The maximum penalty for a violation is $50,000 in the case of a violation that is committed by a natural person, and $200,000 in the case of a violation that is committed by a financial institution or a payment card network operator.

 Section 21 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:How act or omission may be proceeded with

21. If a contravention or non-compliance that is designated under paragraph 19(1)(a) or (a.1) can be proceeded with either as a violation or as an offence, proceeding in one manner precludes proceeding in the other.

 Subsection 22(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Commission of violation
  • 22. (1) Every contravention or non-compliance that is designated under paragraphs 19(1)(a) to (a.2) constitutes a violation and the person that commits the violation is liable to a penalty determined in accordance with sections 19 and 20.

 Subsection 24(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Court to take precautions against disclosing

    (2) In an appeal, the Court shall take every reasonable precaution, including, when appropriate, conducting hearings in private, to avoid the disclosure by the Court or any person of confidential information referred to in subsection 17(1) or (3).

 Section 28 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

  • Marginal note:Common law principles — Payment Card Networks Act

    (3) Every rule and principle of the common law that renders any circumstance a justification or excuse in relation to a charge for an offence in relation to a provision of the Payment Card Networks Act applies in respect of a violation to the extent that it is not inconsistent with this Act.

 Section 34 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Annual report

34. The Minister shall cause to be laid before each House of Parliament, not later than the fifth sitting day of that House after September 30 next following the end of each fiscal year, a report showing the operations of the Agency for that year and describing

  • (a) in aggregate form, its conclusions on the compliance, in that year, of financial institutions with the consumer provisions applicable to them; and

  • (b) in aggregate form, its conclusions on the compliance, in that year, of payment card network operators with the provisions of the Payment Card Networks Act and its regulations.

 Schedule 1 to the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

  • Payment Card Networks Act

    Loi sur les réseaux de cartes de paiement

Coming into Force

Marginal note:Order in council

 Sections 6 and 7 of the Payment Card Networks Act, as enacted by section 1834, come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.

PART 132001, c. 9FINANCIAL CONSUMER AGENCY OF CANADA ACT

Amendments to the Act

  •  (1) Paragraphs 3(2)(a) and (b) of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act are replaced by the following:

    • (a) supervise financial institutions to determine whether they are in compliance with

      • (i) the consumer provisions applicable to them, and

      • (ii) the terms and conditions or undertakings with respect to the protection of customers of financial institutions that the Minister imposes or requires, as the case may be, under an Act listed in Schedule 1 and the directions that the Minister imposes under this Act;

    • (b) promote the adoption by financial institutions of policies and procedures designed to implement

      • (i) provisions, terms and conditions, undertakings or directions referred to in paragraph (a),

      • (ii) voluntary codes of conduct that are designed to protect the interests of the customers of financial institutions that are adopted by financial institutions and that are publicly available, and

      • (iii) any public commitments made by financial institutions that are designed to protect the interests of their customers;

  • (2) Paragraph 3(2)(d) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • (d) promote consumer awareness about the obligations of financial institutions under consumer provisions applicable to them and all matters connected with the protection of consumers of financial products and services;

  • (3) Subsection 3(2) of the Act is amended by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (e) and by adding the following after that paragraph:

    • (f) monitor and evaluate trends and emerging issues that may have an impact on consumers of financial products and services.

  •  (1) Subsection 5(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • Marginal note:Personal information

      (2) The Commissioner may collect any personal information that he or she considers necessary in furtherance of the objects described in subsection 3(2).

  • (2) Subsection 5(5) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • Marginal note:Activities

      (5) The Commissioner may carry on any activity that he or she considers necessary in furtherance of the objects described in subsection 3(2).

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 5:

Marginal note:Minister’s direction
  • 5.1 (1) The Minister may give a written direction to the Commissioner if the Minister is of the opinion that it can strengthen consumer protection and the public’s confidence in that protection or enhance the public’s financial literacy.

  • Marginal note:Notification of implementation

    (2) After implementing the direction, the Commissioner shall notify the Minister without delay that the direction has been implemented.

  • Marginal note:Best interests

    (3) The Commissioner’s compliance with a direction is deemed to be in the best interests of the Agency.

  • Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

    (4) The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply to a direction given under subsection (1).

  • Marginal note:Publication

    (5) The Minister shall cause a notice to be published in the Canada Gazette that a direction was given under subsection (1) as soon as is feasible after the direction is implemented.

 Subsection 17(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Confidential information
  • 17. (1) Subject to subsection (2) and except as otherwise provided in this Act, information regarding the business or affairs of a financial institution or regarding persons dealing with one that is obtained by the Commissioner or by any person acting under the direction of the Commissioner, in the course of the exercise or performance of powers, duties and functions referred to in subsections 5(1) and (2) and 5.1(2) and any information prepared from that information, is confidential and shall be treated accordingly.

 

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