Prudential framework

For oversight of the practices of authorized financial institutions, the AMF advocates a prudential approach based on good governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) practices, rather than the enactment of specific rules.

The AMF therefore establishes guidelines, under the powers conferred on it by the laws it administers, to inform financial institutions of the measures that, in its opinion, can be taken to meet their obligations, based on the activities they are authorized to carry on. The guidelines are updated from time to time to reflect national and international developments and the observations made by the AMF in the course of its supervisory activities in relation to the financial institutions concerned.

The AMF’s guidelines are designed to be sufficiently flexible to enable financial institutions to establish for themselves the strategies, policies and procedures needed to comply with sound and prudent management principles and sound commercial practices. It is therefore the responsibility of each institution to adopt the principles and expectations set out in each of the AMF’s guidelines and to implement them appropriately, following the principle of proportionality, based on the nature, size and complexity of its activities and its risk profile.

Scope

The AMF’s guidelines presented in this section are intended for financial services, credit unions, federations of credit unions and, if applicable, legal persons forming part of a cooperative group (such as Groupe coopératif Desjardins) governed by the Act respecting financial services cooperatives This link will open in a new window, CQLR, c. C-67.3. They are also intended for trust companies authorized under the Trust Companies and Savings Companies Act This link will open in a new window, CQLR, c. S-29.02, and savings companies governed by that Act, as well as other deposit institutions authorized under the Deposit Institutions and Deposit Protection Act This link will open in a new window, CQLR, c. I-13.2.2.

The guidelines apply both to financial institutions that operate independently and to institutions that are part of a financial group. Where elements of a particular guideline concern only certain institutions, clear reference is made to those institutions.

Standards or policies adopted by a federation with respect to the financial services cooperatives that are members of the federation should be consistent, if not convergent, with financial services cooperatives’ legal obligations regarding sound and prudent management practices and sound commercial practices.