Canada

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada is a specialized group of roughly 250 federal regulators, attorneys, policy-makers, and financial literacy experts. Leading the team is Commissioner Shereen Benzvy Miller, a human rights lawyer and long-time civil servant whose appointment to head up the agency came from the federal government. Working with top executives including Frank Lofranco (Deputy Commissioner of Supervision and Enforcement) and Dr. Manon Bombardier (Deputy Commissioner of Insights, Policy and Financial Literacy), this leadership serves as the first line of defense for consumers in Canada. Together, they are a federal watchdog tasked with investigating the illegal activities of banks, enforcing consumer protection laws, cutting down on financial exploitation fees, and creating educational campaigns for average Canadians to become economically resilient.

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) takes care of the rights and interests of consumers by ensuring compliance among all federal financial institutions. FCAC ensures that institutions comply with their consumer protection obligations under the Financial Consumer Protection Framework through risk-based compliance examinations, mystery shopping, and investigating system failures at banks. FCAC is also on the lookout for any violation of institutions' obligations regarding disclosure of interest rates, credit practices, and internal dispute resolution mechanisms as per the law. In cases where institutions fail to adhere to the consumer protection laws, FCAC makes use of its powers to order compliance, initiate customer remediation, and impose Administrative Monetary Penalties amounting to millions of dollars. In addition, FCAC conducts independent market research, structural banking fees disclosure, and Canada's National Financial Literacy Strategy to keep citizens from being caught up in predatory practices and frauds online.