The Government of Canada announced earlier his week that Minister of Finance Bill Morneau has launched an advisory committee specifically for Open Banking. According to government officials, the committee is considered the first step in a Government of Canada review of the potential merits of open banking, as announced in Budget 2018. A consultation paper will be released later this year to help guide the Advisory Committee’s engagement with Canadians.
“Open banking has the potential to offer a new, secure way for Canadian consumers—including small businesses—to share their financial transaction data with financial service providers, allowing them to benefit from a broader range of financial products and services.”
Minister Morneau also has appointed the committee’s four members, who are the following:
- Colleen Johnston: Was most recently Group Head, Direct Channels, Technology, Marketing and Corporate & Public Affairs for TD Bank,
- François Lafortune: A Montréal-based entrepreneur and investor with fifteen years’ experience in building businesses and the fintech sector.
- Kirsten Thompson: A partner in the law firm Dentons Canada in Toronto and is the national lead of their Transformative Technologies and Data Strategy group.
- Ilse Treurnicht: Was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of the MaRS Discovery District, a innovation hub in Toronto.
Minister Morneau went on to add:
“As technology continues to drive change in the financial sector, we must ensure that the needs of consumers—for more affordable and convenient services—are considered alongside the needs of the financial institutions that serve them. I congratulate the members of the Advisory Committee on their appointments, and look forward to the results of their consultations on open banking.”
