Reference Documents

FCAC Compliance Framework

Overview of FCAC activities undertaken to supervise compliance by financial institutions with consumer provisions set out in legislation, and to monitor financial institutions' adherence to their industry voluntary codes of conduct and public commitments.

Clear Language and Presentation Principles and Guidelines for the Industry and information box examples for the Cost of Borrowing Regulations

Following the announcement of the proposed amendments to the plain language provision of the Cost of Borrowing Regulations, the Compliance and Enforcement Branch, at the request of the Commissioner of FCAC, created principles to serve as guidance to the industry in creating its documentation.

Information Box Examples

The government’s introduction of new Cost of Borrowing Regulations includes provisions for information disclosure boxes; in consultation with the Department of Finance Canada, FCAC has also developed examples of information boxes to further guide the industry.

These information boxes are intended to be generic examples of information boxes. It is the responsibility of each federally regulated financial institution to ensure that all of their disclosure documentation meet the regulatory requirements

Consumers and Debit Cards Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services

The Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services was developed in 1992 and was revised in 1996. In January 2002, a guide to the interpretation of Section 5, Liability for Loss, was agreed to and added as Appendix A, by the Electronic Funds Transfer Working Group - a group made up of representatives from consumer organizations, financial institutions, retailers and federal and provincial governments.

The code was further revised in 2004 to clarify the procedures for addressing unauthorized transactions and other transaction problems.

• Click here to view the Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services.

Code of Conduct for Credit and Debit Card Industry in Effect

A new Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada has been adopted by all payment card network operators, including American Express Canada, THE EXCHANGE, Interac, MasterCard Canada and VISA Canada. Most provisions of the Code are in effect as of August 16, 2010.

The Code has the following objectives:

• to ensure that merchants are fully aware of the costs associated with accepting credit and debit card payments;
  
  
• to provide merchants with increased pricing flexibility to encourage consumers to choose the lowest-cost payment option;
  
  
• to allow merchants to choose freely which payment options they will accept.

Payment card network operators have agreed to incorporate the Code of Conduct into their networks' contracts, governing rules and regulations. This will ensure that other participants in the networks, including card issuers and payment processors, also follow its provisions.

FCAC will monitor the payment card networks' compliance with the Code of Conduct.

• Click here to view the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada.