Federal or provincial?
The perennial question in Canadian law (and politics) is: is it
federal or provincial?
In the case of credit cards issued by banks, the answer is
"both". Although banks are a federal responsibility,
provincial consumer protection laws mandating disclosure of
contract terms apply to banks that issue credit cards, the Supreme Court held recently
in three decisions issued the same day.
The decisions are also notable for the very high standards they
set for disclosures to consumers. The court held that both the
existence and the details of foreign currency conversion charges
must be disclosed.
Currency conversion charges on credit cards
The three cases all involved class actions in Quebec alleging
that most Canadian banks, including Canada's so-called Big 5
(Bank of Montreal, TD,
Royal Bank, CIBC, and Scotiabank) did not disclose the commission
they charge when converting purchases made in foreign currencies
into Canadian dollars, as
