The British Columbia (B.C.) Reporter provides a monthly summary of B.C.’s legislative and regulatory developments of relevance to provincially regulated financial institutions. It does not address Canadian federal financial services legislative and regulatory developments, although this information is provided by BLG separately. In addition, purely technical and administrative changes (such as changes to reporting forms) are not covered.
March 2023
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Title and brief summary |
Status |
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B.C. Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) |
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March 29, 2023 |
BCFSA to assume regulatory responsibility for money services businesses BCFSA notes the introduction of Bill 19, Money Services Businesses Act, under which it will take on regulatory responsibility for money services businesses. Under Bill 19, money services businesses will be required to register with BCFSA, which will require background checks and annual reporting, and will have investigative and enforcement powers to help protect people from unknowingly working with unregistered or criminally linked businesses. |
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March 8, 2023 |
Policy statement amendments under the Real Estate Development Marketing Act BCFSA has amended the Superintendent of Real Estate’s Policy Statements 5, 6, and 13 related to the marketing of development properties and real estate securities under the Real Estate Development Marketing Act (REDMA). Amendments to Policy Statement 5 and Policy Statement 6 provide more uniform standards for meeting early marketing requirements in all regions of B.C. Amendments to Policy Statement 13 set out specific disclosure requirements for real estate securities offerings under REDMA and replace the real estate securities disclosure content previously contained in the B.C. Securities Commission’s (BCSC) Form 45-906F, which was repealed as of March 8, 2023. |
Amended policy statements are effective March 8, 2023 |
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March 2, 2023 |
Publication of regulatory actions BCFSA has developed a new Administrative Process, entitled Publication of Regulatory Actions. It offers clarity around the publication of Notices of Hearings, Decisions and other regulatory actions and sets out how long they will be publicly available. As a general practice, all Notices of Hearings and Decisions will be publicly available and searchable on the BCFSA website. Decisions will remain on the BCFSA website in perpetuity and will also be posted to CanLII, an open online platform for judicial decisions and legislation. However, the process also sets out how long BCFSA will link discipline or suspensions orders to its search function for real estate licensees and mortgage brokers. |
Effective January 2023 |
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Legislation |
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March 30, 2023 |
Bill 21, Civil Forfeiture Amendment Act, 2023 Bill 21, Civil Forfeiture Amendment Act, 2023, was introduced in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia on March 30, 2023. The Bill amends section 108 of the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, which deals with the circumstances under which reports of credit information may be given by credit agencies. It adds that such reports can be given in response to a request made under s. 22(6.1) of the Civil Forfeiture Act. Subsection 22(6.1) of the Civil Forfeiture Act is also added by the Bill, stating that a specified organization that has custody or control of information to which the director is entitled under subsection (5) must, within 30 days after receiving a request for the information, disclose that information to the director. |
Provision affecting Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act in force on Royal Assent. |
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March 29, 2023 |
Bill 19, Money Services Businesses Act Bill 19, Money Services Businesses Act (Bill 19), was introduced in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia on March 29, 2023. Bill 19 establishes a registration regime for money services businesses, defined as (with the exception of services excluded by regulation):
Under Bill 19, money services businesses will be required to register with BCFSA, which will require background checks and annual reporting, and will have investigative and enforcement powers to help protect people from unknowingly working with unregistered or criminally linked businesses. Acts amended by the Bill include: |
Act in force on a date to be named by proclamation |
Disclaimer
This Reporter is prepared as a service for our clients. It is not intended to be a complete statement of the law or an opinion on any subject. Although we endeavour to ensure its accuracy, no one should act upon it without a thorough examination of the law after the facts of a specific situation are considered.
