Law Commons^™

The Regulation Of Foreign Banks In Canada: Milelli Marks A Decade Of Ambiguity, Gillian Lester

Faculty Scholarship

The recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in R. v. Milelli culminates a decade of ambiguity in the laws regulating foreign banks in Canada. The case deals with the interpretation of s. 302(1)(a) of the Bank Act, which prohibits foreign banks from undertaking "any banking business" in Canada. The provisions are cryptic and contain no definition of the term "banking business". This has left foreign banks at the caprice of the statute. They are uncertain about the extent to which they are permitted either to deal with Canadian customers directly, or to participate in co-operative transactions (such as …