CDIC signage and display amendments

Summary#

This is a proposed amendment to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Deposit Insurance Information By-law (Signage and Display Requirements) that would narrow where CDIC signage and brochures must appear. The proposal, published in the Canada Gazette on October 17, 2020, would mainly require signage only at physical locations where the majority of deposit-taking relates to deposits eligible for CDIC protection. Interested parties had 30 days to comment.

What it does#

• Changes the definition of place of business so that CDIC signage and brochure-display rules apply only to physical locations in Canada where the majority of deposit-taking activities relate to deposits eligible for insurance. It also expressly excludes automated teller machines.
• Expands the rule about removing CDIC references when membership ends to cover additional websites and electronic sites that might not have been covered before.
• Clarifies that required statements and warnings must be given for telephone transactions, and that certain warning statements must appear on instruments that mix insured and uninsured deposits.
• Clarifies where a member’s list of trade names must be shown on its website and confirms the list must be provided annually with the member’s Return of Insured Deposits (removing an old date that no longer applied).
• Makes a few other technical edits to remove redundancy and align wording with earlier repeals.

Who's affected#

• Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) member institutions — mainly banks and other deposit-taking institutions — are the ones that must follow the signage, brochure and disclosure rules.
• Depositors who open accounts at physical branches or by phone could see slightly different signage or information depending on whether a location mainly takes deposits that are CDIC-insurable.
• Provincial regulators and institutions that already have provincial signage rules may see fewer duplicate signage requirements at some locations.
• The amendment is described as technical and the government says it imposes no new costs on businesses or small businesses.

Why it matters#

• It aims to reduce depositor confusion caused by overlapping federal and provincial signage rules by limiting CDIC signage to places where most deposits would be eligible for CDIC protection.
• At the same time, it keeps safeguards so depositors still get key information (for example, short brochures when opening insured accounts and required warnings on mixed instruments).
• The change is largely a clarity and alignment exercise; the source says it does not change who is insured or add regulatory costs.