Federal Bill C-8 a "done deal"

Canada’s new federal financial services legislation under Bill C-8 entered the final stage of debate by the Senate following approval last week by the finance committee of the Senate. It is expected that the new legislation will be enacted by June 15 of this year before parliament breaks for the summer.The financial services legislation in its current form has been strongly lobbied for by the property and casualty insurance industry. In its current form, the new bill focuses on merger and acquisition regulations pertaining to the financial services industries. Essentially, the new legislation opens the door for increased shareholding between financial institutions as well as reduces a long-standing ban on unification between Canada’s big banks. Most importantly for property and casualty insurers and brokers, the legislation continues to prevent the banks from selling insurance products directly through branches. Banking spokesmen who appeared before the Senate finance committee did, however, indicate that they plan to take up the debate on deregulating the selling of insurance products in line with the next review of the financial services legislation in five years from now.