Unlicenced Institutions - Canada

Published on: 04 October 2002

This notice is issued by the Financial Supervision Commission (“The Commission”) in accordance with the powers conferred upon it under Section 22 of the Financial Supervision Act 1988

The Commission have been made aware that the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions of Canada (OSFI) has issued a number of Warning Notices concerning entities claiming links with Canada which are not authorized Canadian financial institutions. OSFI also warn that the listed institutions are fictional entities and may be part of various “Nigerian” advance fee scams.

The listed institutions are:

Allied Chartered Bank – Toronto, Canada

Schweizer Invest Bank AG of Schweiz – Schweizer Bank Plaza, 200, Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario

Maple Trust Financial

(not related to Maple Trust Company, a legitimate federal trust company, or its affiliates)

Sunlife Financial Trust Incorporated – 7, Nickel Street, Toronto, Ontario M2H 2H9 (not related to Sun Life Financial Trust Inc., a legitimate federal trust company, or its affiliates)

The Commission is drawing attention to these entities in order to assist the due diligence process of any of its licenceholders which may have dealings with them. The Commission emphasises that this warning applies to the entities using the above listed details. You should note that there may be genuine institutions with names resembling those of the above entities. It is a common ploy of fraudsters to use names which are similar to those of genuine regulated entities. If you are in any doubt as to whether a financial entity is genuine, the Commission would recommend, as a first resort, verifying details with the relevant Regulatory Authorities in its claimed country of belonging.

A full list of entities on Warning Circulars, Notices or Advisories issued by OSFI is available on their web site at www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/eng/publications/notices/index_warning.asp

Persons having queries regarding the Notice issued by OSFI may contact the OSFI Compliance Division by telephoning +1 416 973 6117 or by email to: alerte@osfi-bsif.gc.ca

Licence holders having any queries regarding this Commission Public Notice may address them to the Commission’s Enforcement Division on +44 1624 689313 or by email to fsc@gov.im