The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) works on behalf of 51 domestic banks, foreign bank subsidiaries and foreign bank branches operating in Canada and their 260,000 employees. The CBA advocates for effective public policies that contribute to a sound, successful banking system that benefits Canadians and Canada’s economy. The Association also promotes financial literacy to help Canadians make informed financial decisions.
Governance
The Association’s rules and procedures are contained in the Special Act of Parliament of Canada incorporating the CBA, as amended, and the bylaws of the CBA. Decisions are made by committees that are comprised of member bank representatives.
Executive Council
The Executive Council functions as the board of directors of the CBA. Its composition includes a councillor (senior executive) from:
- Each individually represented bank (six largest domestic banks together with HSBC Bank Canada, Canadian Western Bank and Laurentian Bank)
- One representative from the Domestic Bank Group (currently President's Choice Financial)
- Two representatives from the Foreign Bank Group (currently Citibank of Canada and Royal Bank of Scotland), and
- The CBA President and CEO also sits on the Executive Council
The major bank CEOs nominate their respective representatives on the Executive Council and it is the CEO of each or his or her nominee who votes at the meeting of the Association.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee exercises the powers and authority of the Executive Council in between meetings of the Executive Council. The composition included counsellors from the Schedule I banks and the CBA President and CEO.
Senior Committees
Senior Committees report to Executive Council and manage the industry issues assigned to them by Executive Council.
Legal compliance
Lobbyist registration
The CBA adheres to federal and provincial lobbyist registration rules and requirements.
BCPIO
The banking industry's crime investigation and prevention activities are co-ordinated through the Canadian Bankers Association's Bank Crime Prevention and Investigation Office (BCPIO). The purpose of the BCPIO is to protect bank customers against financial crime. Industry personnel involved in investigations of criminal activity follow strict privacy policies and must sign annual confidentiality agreements. The CBA's BCPIO has been designated as an investigative body under the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act that is overseen by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Privacy
The CBA operates on the basis of a privacy policy and related procedures that guide its handling of the personal information it collects. This policy deals only with personal information handled by the CBA. This policy does not apply to the handling of personal information by the BCPIO, which is subject to separate privacy provisions.
