Bank of Canada Delegates RPAA Powers

Summary#

The Bank of Canada gave public notice that the Governor plans to delegate certain powers under the Retail Payment Activities Act to senior Bank officials. The delegations would take effect on the day section 29 of the Retail Payment Activities Act comes into force. The notice was signed by Tiff Macklem on May 30, 2024.

What it does#

• Gives the Governor’s powers under the Retail Payment Activities Act to two senior Bank officials for day-to-day use once the law’s relevant part (section 29) is in force.
• Delegations to the Executive Director responsible for retail payments supervision (or the acting Executive Director, or, if needed, the Deputy Governor) include decisions about:
  • letting parts of the Act not apply to a particular payment service provider or group of providers;
  • reviewing and deciding on applications that were refused registration;
  • reviewing notices of intent to revoke a provider’s registration and deciding whether to revoke;
  • deciding, after a notice of violation and representations, whether a violation occurred and whether to impose a penalty; and
  • reviewing whether a provider has complied with a compliance agreement after a notice of default.
• Delegations to the Managing Director responsible for retail payments supervision (or the acting Managing Director) include:
  • designating people or classes of people as “authorized persons” for certain supervisory powers;
  • certifying unpaid debt amounts for recovery;
  • issuing compliance orders directing a payment service provider to stop or do certain things; and
  • applying to court to enforce compliance orders.

Who's affected#

• Mainly companies and people that operate as, or apply to be, payment service providers under the Retail Payment Activities Act.
• The Bank’s retail payments supervision team, because named officials will hold formal decision-making authority.
• It is unclear from the notice whether any other groups (for example, consumers or other financial institutions) will be directly affected beyond the usual consequences of registration, penalties, or compliance orders.

Why it matters#

• The notice sets out which Bank officials will make key regulatory decisions about payment service providers once that part of the law is active.
• For payment service providers, this affects who will handle registration, revocation, penalties, and compliance matters.
• For the public, it clarifies where authority sits inside the Bank of Canada for supervising retail payments under the new law.