Canadian Government Tables Bail-in Legislation

On April 20, 2016, the Government of Canada tabled Bill C-15 entitled An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 22, 2016 and other measures (hereinafter "Bill C-15").

Significantly, Bill C-15 includes provisions that would implement the long awaited bail-in legislation, i.e., the power to convert eligible liabilities of certain banks into common shares.

In addition, among other things, Bill C-15 also proposes to amend the sunset provisions of certain Acts governing federally regulated financial institutions ("FRFIs") to extend by two years, namely, from March 29, 2017 to March 29, 2019, the period during which those institutions may carry on business. This extension will facilitate the next federal review of legislation governing FRFIs. Bill C-15 also proposes to amend the Bank Act to facilitate the continuance of local cooperative credit societies as federal credit unions, and implements several announcements contained in