Notice of Branch Closure (Trust and Loan Companies) Regulations

Notice of Branch Closure (Trust and Loan Companies) Regulations Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, pursuant to subsection 444.1(5)a of the Trust and Loan Companies Actb, hereby makes the annexed Notice of Branch Closure (Trust and Loan Companies) Regulations. S.C. 2001, c. 9, s. 548 S.C. 1991, c. 45 Definitions The following definitions apply in these Regulations. Act means the Trust and Loan Companies Act. (Loi) retail deposit-taking branch means a branch or office in Canada of a financial institution at which the financial institution, through a natural person, opens retail deposit accounts and disburses cash to customers. (bureau de dépôt de détail) rural area means any territory in Canada located outside an urban area. (zone rurale) urban area means a geographic area in Canada that is defined as an urban area in the census dictionary published by Statistics Canada for the purpose of the most recent general census whose results have been published; and that has a minimum population of 10,000 persons, on the basis of that census. (zone urbaine) Deemed time of giving notice For the purposes of these Regulations, a notice is deemed to be given by a member company to a person on the day recorded by a server of the member company as the time of sending the notice to the person, if it is sent by electronic means; on the day recorded by a fax machine of the member company as the time of sending the notice to the person, if it is sent by fax and the person has consented to receiving it by fax; five days after the postmark date on the notice, if it is sent to the person by the member company by mail; and when the notice is received by the person, if it is given to the person by the member company in any other way. Notice to be given A member company that is required to give notice under subsection 444.1(1) of the Act before closing a branch or having it cease to carry on an activity referred to in that subsection must give notice of the proposed closure of the branch or cessation of the activity in accordance with sections 4 to 6. Notice to Commissioner The notice must be given to the Commissioner in writing no later than four months before the date proposed for the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity, if the branch is in an urban area, or a rural area where there is a retail deposit-taking branch within a travelling distance of 10 km from the branch; or six months before the date proposed for the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity, if the branch is in a rural area where there is no retail deposit-taking branch within a travelling distance of 10 km from the branch. Information to be included The notice must include the following information: the location of the branch; the date proposed for the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity; alternative sites where, after that date, customers of the branch may obtain services similar to the financial services that are provided at the branch, or a telephone number that customers may call to be informed of those sites; the measures, if any, that the member company is taking to maintain any financial services that are available in the area that is served by the branch, to the extent that that information is available; and how the member company may be contacted in respect of the proposed closure of the branch or cessation of the activity. Notice to customers and public If the branch is in an urban area, or in a rural area where there is a retail deposit-taking branch located within a travelling distance of 10 km from the branch, the notice must be given to the customers of the branch and to the public. Four months notice The notice must be given no later than four months before the date proposed for the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity. Manner of giving notice The notice must be given by posting it in a conspicuous place in a public area of the branch; and sending it to each customer of the branch by mail, either included with a regular account statement or in a separate mailing, or by electronic means, if the customer regularly receive material from the member company by electronic means. the address of the branch to which the member company will transfer the customers’ accounts; the measures, if any, that the member company is taking to maintain any financial services that are available in the area that is served by the branch, to the extent that that information is available; how the member company and the Commissioner may be contacted in respect of the proposed closure of the branch or cessation of the activity; and a statement that the Commissioner may require the member company to convene and hold a meeting between representatives of the member company, representatives of the Agency and interested parties in the vicinity of the branch, in order to exchange views about the proposed closure of the branch or cessation of the activity, if the member company has not consulted the community in the area affected by the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity well enough to ascertain the views of interested persons in the community with regard to the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity, an individual or a community representative from the area affected by the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity submits to the Commissioner a written request for the meeting, and the request is not frivolous or vexatious. Notice to customers, public and mayor If the branch is in a rural area and there is no retail deposit-taking branch within a travelling distance of 10 km from the branch, the notice must be given to the customers of the branch; the public; and the chairperson, mayor, warden, reeve or other similar chief officer of the municipal or local government body or authority for the area in which the branch is located. Six months notice The notice must be given no later than six months before the date proposed for the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity. posting it in a conspicuous place in a public area of the branch; by electronic means, if the customer regularly receives material from the member company by electronic means; publishing it in a newspaper in general circulation at or near the place where the branch is located; and delivering it to the chairperson, mayor, warden, reeve or other similar chief officer of the municipal or local government body or authority for the area in which the branch is located. alternative sites where, after that date, customers of the branch may obtain services similar to the financial services that are provided at the branch, or a telephone number that customers may call to determine those sites; Circumstances for exemption from notice requirement A member company is not required to give notice under subsection 444.1(1) of the Act before closing a branch or having it cease to carry on an activity referred to in that subsection in the following circumstances: the closure or cessation is temporary and is caused by events beyond the control of the member company; the closure or cessation is not expected to continue for more than 15 business days; the closure or cessation results from the sale by the member company of the branch’s assets and liabilities to another financial institution, that other financial institution proposes to operate a retail deposit-taking branch at the same site and the financial services that have been provided to the public from that site are not expected to be interrupted as a result of the sale for more than 15 business days; the closure or cessation results from a relocation of the branch or a consolidation of the branch with one or more branches into another branch, and the travelling distance from the site of the relocated or consolidated branch to the site of the closed branch is less than 500 m; the closure or cessation is required in order to comply with a prudential agreement entered into between the member company and the Superintendent under section 506.1 of the Act, a direction of the Superintendent under subsection 507(1) of the Act, or an order of a court under section 509 of the Act; the closure or cessation results from a decision of the Superintendent under subsection 514(2) of the Act after the Superintendent has taken control of the member company under subparagraph 510(1)(b)(iii) of the Act; the closure or cessation results from actions directed towards the voluntary liquidation of the member company after the Minister has approved an application under section 349 of the Act for letters patent dissolving the member company, or under the supervision of a court under an order made by the court under subsection 352(1) of the Act; the closure or cessation results from a winding-up order in respect of the member company made under section 10 or 10.1 of the Winding-up and Restructuring Act; the closure or cessation results from the termination or cancellation of the policy of deposit insurance of the member company under the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act; the closure or cessation results from the making of an order under subsection 39.13(1) of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act in respect of the member company; the closure or cessation is part of a restructuring transaction carried out under subsection 39.2(1) of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act; the branch was acquired within the preceding year by a purchaser in a restructuring transaction carried out under subsection 39.2(1) of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act; or the member company has posted in a conspicuous place in a public area of the branch a notification of the closure or cessation before the coming into force of these Regulations and the closure or cessation occurs within six months after the coming into force of these Regulations, if the branch is in a rural area where there is no retail deposit-taking branch within a travelling distance of 10 km from the branch, four months after the coming into force of these Regulations, in any other cases. Commissioner may exempt from or vary notice requirement In the circumstances set out in subsection (2), the Commissioner may, at the request of a member company, exempt the member company from the requirement to give notice under subsection 444.1(1) of the Act in relation to the closure of a branch or the cessation of an activity referred to in that subsection; or vary the manner and time in which notice is otherwise required to be given under these Regulations. Circumstances in which subsection (1) applies Subsection (1) applies in the following circumstances: the closure or cessation is in response to a risk to the safety of the personnel of the branch or the public; the closure or cessation is caused by the member company’s right to use the premises as a retail deposit-taking branch being terminated by a person other than the member company or an affiliate of the member company and that person has not given the member company enough notice of the termination to allow the member company to comply with the notice requirements of these Regulations; the closure or cessation results from a relocation of the branch, and the travelling distance from the new location to the former location is more than 500 m but not great enough to substantially affect either the customers served by the branch or the nature of the business of the branch; or the giving of notice under subsection 444.1(1) of the Act in the manner and time otherwise required by these Regulations would cause undue prejudice to the member company. Circumstances in which Commissioner shall require meeting For the purposes of subsection 444.1(2) of the Act, the following circumstances are prescribed as circumstances in which the Commissioner shall require a member company to convene and hold a meeting referred to in that subsection: the member company has not consulted the community in the area affected by the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity well enough to ascertain the views of interested persons in the community with regard to the closure of the branch, the cessation of the activity, alternate service delivery by the member company or measures to help the branch’s customers adjust to the closure or cessation; an individual or a community representative from the area affected by the closure of the branch or the cessation of the activity submits to the Commissioner a written request for the meeting; and Coming into force These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.