As announced in December 2011, the federal government is going to propose legislative amendments to clarify the prohibition for banks from offer annuities or other products of a similar nature. This was confirmed by Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty when the federal budget was released on March 29."The Government has a long-standing policy of separating the business of insurance from the business of banking. This ensures that financial institutions are subject to the regulatory regime that properly addresses the risk that they undertake. In line with this policy, and as announced by the Minister of Finance in December 2011, the Government will propose a legislative amendment to clarify the prohibition against banks offering life annuities or products of a similar nature," he said.