Foreign Bank Representative Offices Regulations

Foreign Bank Representative Offices Regulations His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, pursuant to sections 509 and 559 of the Bank Act*, is pleased hereby to revoke the Foreign Bank Representative Offices Regulations, made by Order in Council P.C. 1981-966 of April 9, 1981**, and to make the annexed Regulations respecting the registration and operation of foreign bank representative offices in substitution therefor, effective June 1, 1992. S.C. 1991, c. 46 SOR/81-309, 1981 Canada Gazette Part II, p. 1202 [Repealed, SOR/99-271, s. 2] In these Regulations, Act means the Bank Act. (Loi) A foreign bank may apply for registration of a representative office by submitting to the Superintendent a written application setting out the name of the foreign bank and the address of its head office, a reference to the law of the country, or a political subdivision thereof, pursuant to which the foreign bank was established, a description of the foreign bank’s business and operations, the present or proposed address of the representative office, the name of each representative of the foreign bank who has been assigned to the representative office, together with a description of his business experience and duties, a description of the manner in which the foreign bank will supervise the operation of the representative office, the name and business address of the officer of the foreign bank to whom the chief representative of the representative office is to report directly, the maximum number of personnel to be employed at the representative office during the period preceding the submission of the first statement submitted pursuant to subsection 7(2); and the name of the person who is or will be the chief representative in the representative office; subject to section 9, audited financial statements of the foreign bank for its last financial year, including a balance sheet and a statement of income and expenses that are expressed in Canadian currency and in the currency of the country or political subdivision of the country in which the head office of the foreign bank was established; subject to section 9, a certificate of the regulatory authority governing banks of the country or political subdivision of the country in which the head office of the foreign bank is established, certifying that the foreign bank has been incorporated or established in accordance with the laws of that country or political subdivision, a reference to those laws and a statement that the foreign bank is in good standing with that authority; and a certified copy of the resolution of the board of directors of the foreign bank authorizing the establishment of the representative office. Where the Superintendent approves an application for registration of a representative office submitted pursuant to section 3, the Superintendent shall send the foreign bank written notice of the approval. The registration of a representative office is effective on the date of the notice of approval referred to in subsection (1). Where a change occurs in the information provided to the Superintendent by a foreign bank pursuant to subparagraphs 3(a)(iv) to (vii), the representative office of the foreign bank or the foreign bank shall, within 45 days of that change, advise the Superintendent in writing of the change. Where a new chief representative in a representative office of a foreign bank is appointed, the representative office or the foreign bank shall, within one month of the appointment, notify the Superintendent in writing of the appointment. No representative office of a foreign bank shall undertake a business activity other than promoting the services of the foreign bank or an affiliate of the foreign bank other than an affiliate incorporated in Canada; or acting as a liaison between clients of the foreign bank and other offices of the foreign bank or of affiliates of the foreign bank other than an affiliate incorporated in Canada. No person employed in a representative office of a foreign bank shall, in the course of that employment, undertake or carry on any business activities other than activities that are in furtherance of the activities of the representative office referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b). Subsection (2) does not apply to employees of a foreign bank in respect of which an order under subsection 524(1) of the Act has been made. A foreign bank shall pay an annual fee on or before the first day of November of each year for each representative office of the foreign bank that is registered pursuant to these Regulations as of that date in the amount of $2,500 in respect of the maintenance of that registration by the Superintendent. A representative office of a foreign bank shall, on or before the first day of November of each year, submit to the Superintendent a statement of the number of persons that are employed in the representative office. Subject to section 9, a representative office of a foreign bank shall submit to the Superintendent audited financial statements of the foreign bank in the form and manner described in paragraph 3(b) in respect of each financial year of the foreign bank at the time the financial statements become available to the shareholders of the foreign bank. Where a document referred to in paragraph 3(b) or (c) or section 8 has already been submitted to the Superintendent by a foreign bank pursuant to the Act, that document need not be resubmitted to the Superintendent. Where audited financial statements referred to in paragraph 3(b) or section 8 in respect of a financial year of a foreign bank are not available, the foreign bank or its representative office may, for the purposes of that paragraph or section, submit to the Superintendent unaudited financial statements of the foreign bank in respect of that year. Where financial statements of a foreign bank for the financial year immediately preceding the submission by the foreign bank of an application pursuant to section 3 are not available, the foreign bank may submit to the Superintendent, for the purposes of paragraph 3(b), financial statements of the foreign bank for the financial year immediately preceding that year.