Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions launches consultation on capital rule revisions and issues new crypto-asset and climate risk disclosures updates

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) published a package of regulatory updates under its final Quarterly Release pilot, including a public consultation on proposed revisions to its Capital Adequacy Requirements Guideline for 2026 and new guidance covering crypto-asset exposures and climate-related disclosures. The 60-day consultation on the draft Capital Adequacy Requirements Guideline follows OSFI’s decision to defer increases in the Basel III capital floor (output floor) until further notice. For crypto-assets, OSFI issued banking and insurance guidelines setting expectations for exposures and the associated capital and liquidity requirements, alongside final Pillar 3 disclosure guidelines for banks. The crypto-asset Pillar 3 disclosures apply to domestic systemically important banks and small and medium-sized deposit-taking institutions and become effective for the fiscal Q1 2026 reporting period, aligned with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision standard. On climate risk, OSFI flagged updates to Guideline B-15 to keep disclosure expectations interoperable with the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board’s final standards and indicated it will consult on disclosure expectations for greenhouse gas emissions from off-balance sheet assets under management. OSFI will hold a virtual Industry Day on March 6, 2025 to discuss the released items and take questions.