Appearance before the Standing Committee on Finance (July 7, 2020): Measures taken to oversee new commitments

Issue

On April 3, FCAC informed regulated entities that it would work with banks to monitor the implementation of their relief measures and treat these measures as public commitments. FCAC has been working with them for the last three months to collect data on client relief measures. At the beginning of the pandemic, financial institutions faced a number of priorities, e.g. providing relief to consumers, increasing their call centre capacity, and ensuring the safety of their employees. Despite the many challenges, the regulated entities provided FCAC with clean and accurate data. The banks continue to be forthcoming with their information today. This information has assisted FCAC with its supervisory work.

Background

To ensure regulated entities meet their public commitments, the FCAC Supervision team has had regular contact with conglomerate banks (DSIBs) and small and medium sized banks (SMSBs) on measures implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, a standardized template with defined fields was distributed to regulated entities to provide FCAC with weekly statistics on financial relief offered by regulated entities to consumers impacted by COVID-19. These include information and data on payment deferrals for mortgages and other credit products such as loans, lines of credit and credit cards.

Data/Quick facts

• DSIBS began providing information on client relief measures in early April and weekly reporting for all regulated entities has been ongoing since mid-April.
• All data captured by FCAC is shared with the sub-FISC on a weekly basis.
• Regulated entities will be required to submit reports on complaint data in the fall, which will contribute to the current monitoring taking place.

Key messages

• Weekly reporting on relief measures is ongoing and FCAC will follow up on these activities to ensure financial consumers are protected and hold banks responsible for their commitments.
• FCAC and OSFI are collaborating on the information being requested from regulated entities.
• A review of all documentation disclosed by regulated entities is underway to ensure consumers are provided clear, simple, and not misleading information. 
• A review to be conducted this fall of complaints banks have received related to COVID-19, combined with data from our upcoming public opinion research, will provide us with a consumer view of the banking response to the pandemic and allow for targeted supervisory work, as needed.
• Summary statistic attached.