By James Langton
(October 23 – 12:15 ET) – In anticipation of new federal financial services legislation, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has launched a pilot program to streamline its approval procedures.
Effective immediately, the Registration and Approvals Division of OSFI is introducing a pilot project to test systems and procedures in support of the Deemed Approval Regime as set out in Bill C-38, in advance of the possible passage of the bill.
The Deemed Approval Regime will apply to certain approvals, if Bill C-38 is enacted. If it is enacted, the Superintendent would have a period of 30 days from receipt of an application to approve, extend, or deny an application. Should the Superintendent take no action, the application would be deemed to be approved
OSFI says that although no approvals can be deemed to take place unless the legislation is enacted, it will try to process approvals within the 30-day time frame set out in Bill C-38.
OSFI says that it is also working on a new initiative to improve the efficiency and transparency of the process of obtaining a confirmation of quality of capital instruments. An announcement pertaining to this initiative will be made over the next few months.