ID
2025-001

Type
Policy, Rules
Sector
Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires
Status
Open
Date
Comment Due Date

To better protect credit union members, FSRA, Ontario’s financial services regulator, is proposing an Unclaimed Deposits Rule and accompanying guidance for a second consultation.

The Rule will require credit unions to transfer unclaimed deposits to FSRA after the account has been inactive for 10 years.

To access an unclaimed deposit, a credit union member, beneficiary, or estate will need to file a claim with FSRA and provide evidence of their right to the deposit. The proposed Rule outlines requirements for credit unions and those claiming entitlement.

The proposed Rule and accompanying Guidance are being posted for a second consultation for 30 days, which will close on February 10, 2025.

Learn more:

Submit a comment/Upload a document/Ask a question

We welcome your comments and questions. Please use the table below to submit a comment, ask a question or upload a file.

Before you begin, please note the following:

  • Do not include any personal or private financial information.
  • By submitting your content, you agree to have your materials posted on FSRA’s website, used in reports, and other materials prepared by Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) that may be shared with the public.
  • All submitted content is reviewed and moderated before posting so that all posts are respectful and professional.
  • The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.F.31, applies to all online content.

Submissions received

No comments have been added to this consultation yet.
Sector Question and response
Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires

Question: Is there a specific account type the unclaimed deposit refers to? For example, the chequing account is active, but the savings account has been dormant for over 10 years. Do we need to transfer the savings account to FSRA?

FSRA response:

In accordance with section 1(3) of the proposed Unclaimed Deposits (UD) Rule and section 147(1) of the Credit Union and Caisses Populaires Act, 2020, FSRA interprets unclaimed deposits to include money   in any non-registered investment or deposit account  offered by a credit union. This includes but is not limited to balances in chequing accounts, savings accounts and investment accounts holding term deposits. Money deposited with a credit union under federal or provincial registered accounts are excluded from the scope of the proposed UD Rule. For more details on which types of instruments that FSRA may interpret as a deposit under scope of the UD Rule, please refer to the proposed accompanying Guidance (section 1: Meaning of Deposits, section 1: Deposits Excluded from the UD Rule, and section 2: Account).

When determining whether an account is inactive,    the credit union must consider the depositor’s entire profile, which may include multiple distinct accounts and investment vehicles, as outlined in section 2(1)(i)(a) of the proposed UD Rule. Therefore, if a depositor with multiple accounts has a savings account that would normally be considered inactive   but regularly uses their chequing account, the savings account would not be considered inactive for the purposes of the UD Rule  . In other words, an account is considered inactive only when all of the members’ accounts would be deemed inactive as defined in the UD Rule. Therefore, in the situation outlined in the question, the credit union would not need to transfer the money deposited in the savings account. For more information on depositor profiles with multiple accounts, please refer to the proposed accompanying Guidance (section 2: Multiple Accounts).