Annual Banking Report 2020

Deadline: June 30, 2020

Pursuant to Directive No. 5R5, Estate Funds and Banking and the OSB Temporary Guidance March 30: COVID-19, Licensed Insolvency Trustees (LIT) and Consumer Proposal Administrators are required to submit a Schedule 1 “Request for Bank Confirmation” and a Schedule 2 “Annual Banking Report” (ABR) to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) no later than June 30, 2020.

The OSB strongly encourages LITs to submit ABRs electronically and is encouraged that in recent years more and more LITs have chosen to submit electronically. In fact, 98% of estates reported last year were submitted electronically! Submitting the ABR electronically significantly reduces the amount of work for LITs and the OSB, as the data is transferred immediately, without the need for manual input, which also promotes data integrity.

Please note that this will be the last year paper submissions will be accepted. If you have submitted your ABR by paper in previous years and would like assistance to submit electronically, please contact your Regional ABR Coordinator. It would be our pleasure to help you.

General Instructions – electronic and paper ABRs

  1. ABRs are submitted by corporate LIT firms and by sole practitioners.
  2. If the corporate LIT firm is active in more than one OSB Region (West, Ontario, East), submit an ABR for each Region and include open inventory for individual LITs with open inventory in the applicable Region.
  3. Banking information must be included for all estates open as of April 30, 2020.
  4. Include estates open as of April 30, 2020 having $0 balance, including joint estates.
  5. Include estates closed as of April 30, 2020 having a balance either greater than or less than $0.
  6. Exclude estates closed as of April 30, 2020 having a $0 balance (even if they remain associated to a trust account).
  7. If the financial institution has changed and the former financial institution’s account(s) remain open as of April 30, ensure related estate(s) are only included once in the ABR. This may be accomplished by only providing banking information from the financial institution holding the associated trust funds as of April 30, 2020.

Instructions for electronic filing

  1. Ensure third-party insolvency software is up-to-date.
  2. Within the ABR feature of your insolvency software, build an ABR draft in accordance with the General Instructions noted above (to avoid the ABR being rejected and having to re-submit).
  3. Review your draft submission to ensure it adheres to the General Instructions.
  4. When ready, generate an ABR (XML) data file in the third-party insolvency software.
  5. Log in to OSB’s E-Filing System with your OSB E-Filing account credentials.
  6. To ensure receipt of electronic ABR receipt confirmation messages from the E-filing system, ensure your e-mail address is up to date in your OSB E-Filing System account profile.
  7. Upload the ABR data file to OSB’s E-Filing System.
  8. Record the reference number provided by OSB’s E-Filing System.
  9. Print a Request for Bank Confirmation (Schedule 1) blank form, one for each bank branch where you have estate trust accounts.
  10. For each Schedule 1, complete Parts 1 and 2 of the form. Ensure you sign Part 1. In Part 2, provide the full address of the bank branch.
  11. For each completed Schedule 1, scan and save it as a PDF file.
  12. For each completed Schedule 1, e-mail the PDF copy and mail the original to your Regional ABR Coordinator.

Instructions for paper filing

  1. Print an Annual Banking Report (Schedule 2) blank form.
  2. Complete all sections of the form and sign Part 1.
  3. Ensure your submission is in accordance with the General Instructions above; otherwise, the ABR may be rejected with instructions to re-submit.
  4. Paginate the ABR.
  5. Use a legible font size (e.g., Times New Roman 11 or greater).
  6. Indicate the name of a contact person available to respond to possible follow-up questions by the OSB.
  7. Group together estates with funds deposited in the same consolidated account.
  8. Indicate the total number of estates and total bank balances in consolidated bank accounts.
  9. Scan all pages of the completed Schedule 2 paper ABR and save it as a PDF file.
  10. Print a Request for Bank Confirmation (Schedule 1) blank form, one for each bank branch where you have estate trust accounts.
  11. For each Schedule 1, complete Parts 1 and 2 of the form. Ensure you sign Part 1. In Part 2, provide the full address of the bank branch.
  12. For each Schedule 1, scan and save it as a PDF file.
  13. For each Schedule 1 and Schedule 2, e-mail the PDF copy and mail the paper original to your Regional ABR Coordinator.

Please do not hesitate to contact your Regional ABR Coordinator (listed below) if you have any questions in regards to the ABR.

Thank you,

Daniel Charrette
Deputy Superintendent, Program Policy and Regulatory Affairs


Regional ABR Coordinators

Eastern Region

Halifax Division Office
1505 Barrington Street, 16th Floor
Halifax NS B3J 3K5
Attention: Helen Zebedee
helen.zebedee@canada.ca

Québec City Division Office702-1550, d'Estimauville Avenue
Québec QC G1J 0C4
Attention: Johanne Picardjohanne.picard@canada.ca

Montréal Division Office
1155 Metcalfe Street, Suite 950
Montréal QC H3B 2V6
Attention: Melissa Houle
melissa.houle@canada.ca

Ontario Region

Toronto and Hamilton Division Offices
151 Yonge Street, 4th Floor
Toronto ON M5C 2W7
Attention: Raquel McGee
raquel.mcgee@canada.ca

Ottawa and London Division Offices160 Elgin Street, 11th Floor, Suite B-100
Ottawa ON K2P 2P7
Attention: Simon Berlinguette
simon.berlinguette@canada.ca

Western Region

All Western Region Division Offices
1945 Hamilton Street, Suite 600
Regina SK S4P 2C7
Attention: Antje Nameth
antje.nameth@canada.ca