Quebec’s Bill 141, An Act mainly to improve the regulation of the financial sector, the protection of deposits of money and the operation of financial institutions, was passed June 13, two days before the end of the legislative session.

Finance Minister Carlos J. Leitão underlined that the bill required more than 60 hours of study in a legislative committee. He also announced that the government plans to create an advisory committee of consumers of financial products and services. This committee’s mission will be to provide Quebec’s financial markets regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), with a consumer perspective.

A final attack on the Chambres

Leitão once again reiterated that keeping Quebec’s insurance SROs, the Chambres, poses problems and eventually should be corrected.

"It remains clear that integrating the Chambres with the AMF…to improve consumer protection is, in our opinion, an inevitable logical solution that would be in the long-term interest of consumers, representatives and firms," he said.

A mixed welcome

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) says it sees the adoption of Bill 141 as positive, particularly with respect to the modernization of the legislative framework for the financial sector.

"Significant advances have been made that will allow property and casualty insurers to adapt their practices to the realities of today and to offer Quebec consumers products that meet their constantly changing needs, in line with the pace of technology innovation," said Johanne Lamanque, Vice-President, Quebec, of the IBC.

For its part, the Coalition des associations de consommateurs (consumer associations coalition) believes that the bill is far from meeting the needs of the consumer. "The bill was missing elements that would have been necessary to protect consumers with respect to online sales," said Jacques St-Amant, analyst at the Coalition, in an interview with The Insurance and Investment Journal.