The Canadian Bankers Association, in its submission for the British Columbia government’s upcoming budget, called for action in three areas affecting banks and financial services providers. The group asked the province to strengthen the response to frauds and scams, reduce internal trade barriers in financial services, and revise the proposed restricted insurance agency regime for banks. On financial crime, the association called for reporting flows to be centralized between the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and law enforcement, alongside stronger intelligence sharing to support investigations. It also backed more specialized enforcement and prosecution resources, support for the planned Financial Crimes Agency, continued work on beneficial ownership transparency aligned with federal rules, and broader public-private and international coordination. The submission cited more than CAD 704 million in reported fraud losses nationally in 2025, including CAD 90 million in British Columbia, with actual losses estimated to be far higher because of underreporting. To reduce interprovincial frictions, the association urged greater alignment on privacy requirements, consistent consumer market conduct protections for payment services providers engaged in bank-like activities, coordinated over-the-counter derivatives participation fees, harmonized account transfer rules and infrastructure, and legislative changes to support amalgamations and asset purchase transactions between federal and provincial credit unions while increasing transparency in the provincial credit union system. It also asked British Columbia to reconsider the current approach to restricted insurance agency rules and move to a principles-based framework aligned with Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and New Brunswick, arguing that the current proposal is overly prescriptive, raises compliance costs, provides insufficient implementation time for training accreditation, and creates uncertainty over banks’ ability to continue offering travel insurance.
Canadian Bankers Association2026-06-19
Canadian Bankers Association urges British Columbia budget action on fraud reporting trade barriers and insurance rules
The Canadian Bankers Association used its British Columbia budget submission to press for stronger anti-fraud measures, fewer interprovincial barriers in financial services, and changes to proposed insurance distribution rules for banks. Its requests include centralized fraud reporting between the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and law enforcement, harmonized rules on privacy and account transfers, and a principles-based restricted insurance agency regime aligned with other provinces. The group also backed beneficial ownership transparency, support for the Financial Crimes Agency, and coordinated derivatives fee rules.