Amendments Nos. 73 and 74 are related and may be discussed together.
SECTION 49.
I move amendment No. 73:
In page 41, subsection (2)(d), line 20, to delete "and".
Under sections 48 to 52 inclusive, credit unions are now committed to provide additional services, either as principal or agent. Section 49 specifically deals with the application which must be made by a credit union to the Registrar for approval to operate such additional services. The purpose of these two amendments to section 49 (2) is to require that the credit union's application to the Registrar identifies the principal on behalf of whom a credit union proposes to offer agency services. These are technical amendments designed solely to clarify the nature of the application made to the Registrar.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 74:
In page 41, subsection (2)(e), line 22, after "services;" to insert:
(f) the credit union's proposed principal, in a case where the approval application relates to the provision of services by the credit union as agent for another;".
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments Nos. 75, 76 and 77 are related and may be discussed together.
I move amendment No. 75:
In page 41, subsection (5), line 42, to delete "Within six months" and substitute "Subject to subsection (6), within four months".
Section 49 (5) stipulates that within six months of receiving an approval application from a credit union, the Registrar is required to either notify his decision or require the credit union to provide him with additional information. Where he seeks additional information, the Registrar is required to issue his decision within 12 months of receipt of the original application.
In response to representations I received to the effect that this provision represented too long a decision making period, I have decided to differentiate the procedural arrangements for approval applications from credit unions proposing to act as principal in relation to certain services vis-�-vis credit unions proposing to act as “agent” to another principal. For example, the latter might take the form of a credit union offering insurance services, as many do at present.
The changes proposed in these amendments will substantially reduce the initial response period by the Registrar to two months in the case of credit union applications relating to agency services. The new subsection (6) provides that where the Registrar exercises his right to obtain additional information from the credit union, he must make his decision within two months of receiving it.
Similarly, I am reducing the initial six month response period by the Registrar to four months in the case of credit union applications relating to principal services. I am similarly providing that where the Registrar requires additional information he must make his decision within four months of receiving it. These changes address the concerns expressed by the credit union movement in relation to the lengthy time periods involved for approval by the Registrar.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 76:
In page 42, subsection (5), line 2, to delete "twelve months from the date of his receipt of the application" and substitute "four months from the date of his receipt of that additional information".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 77:
In page 42, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following subsection:
"(6) Where an approval application relates to the provision of services by the credit union as agent (and not also as principal), subsection (5) shall have effect with the substitution for any reference to four months of a reference to two months.".
Amendment agreed to.
Section 49, as amended, agreed to.
Sections 50 and 51 agreed to.