Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

Agence de la consommation en matière financière du Canada
File:FCAC English avatar.jpg Avatar of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada for use in social media
Agency overview
Formed	2001
Jurisdiction	Government of Canada
Headquarters	Ottawa, Ontario
Employees	54
Annual budget	$10.7M (CAD)
Agency executive	Ursula Menke, Commissioner
Website	www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) is an independent agency of the Government of Canada that enforces consumer protection legislation, regulations and industry commitments by federally regulated financial entities. It also provides programs and information to help consumers understand their rights and responsibilities when dealing with financial institutions and promotes financial literacy.

The Agency was established in 2001 by the federal government to strengthen oversight of consumer issues and expand consumer education in the financial sector. In July 2010, FCAC was also tasked with the oversight of payment card network operators and their commercial practices.

Mandate

FCAC has a dual mandate, set out in the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act. Broadly, these two main elements are:

• ensuring and enforcing compliance by the financial sector with federal legislation and regulations, as well as voluntary codes of conduct and public commitments
• promoting greater financial literacy by informing consumers about their rights and responsibilities when dealing with financial entities and payment card network operators.

Under its compliance mandate, FCAC is responsible for:

• ensuring that the market conduct of federally regulated financial entities complies with federal legislation and regulations
• promoting the adoption of policies and procedures designed to implement legislation, regulation, voluntary codes of conduct and public commitments by federally regulated financial entities
• monitoring federally regulated financial entities’ compliance with voluntary codes of conduct and their own public commitments.

Under financial literacy, FCAC is responsible for:

• informing consumers about their rights and responsibilities when dealing with financial entities and about the obligations of payment card network operators to consumers and merchants
• providing timely and objective information and tools to help consumers understand, and shop for, a variety of financial products and services
• monitoring and evaluating trends and emerging issues that may have an impact on consumers of financial products and services.