Bank Act (Canada)
The Bank Act (1991, c. 46) (, the Act) is an act of the Parliament of Canada respecting banks and banking. History The Bank Act was originally passed in 1871. The terms of the Act provide for a statutory review of the Act on a regular basis to ensure that legislators update the Act in order that it keep pace with developments in the financial system. Historically, this was done on a decennial basis. In 1992, this requirement was changed to every five years. The Act contains a "sunset" clause providing that it and the bank charters provided by it will expire unless the statutory review is conducted every five years. In 2016 the Federal Government proposed a 2 year extension to the review deadline. The most recent statutory review of the Act took place in 2019 with the next review scheduled for 2023. Credit unions In 2010, the Parliament of Canada passed amendments to the Act to allow federal credit unions to exist as a new class of financial institution. Credit unions differ from banks in that they are member-owned, democratically controlled and governed by co-operative principles. The Bank Act allows that federal credit unions may either be created