February 2, 2023
The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) continues to strengthen its Compliance Framework by implementing a Trustee Annual Report (TAR) to collect information on Licensed Insolvency Trustee (LIT) business models and practices. This information will better inform the OSB's oversight activities and help reduce administrative burden on LITs, particularly during Trustee Office Visits.
The OSB has worked closely with the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP) and a working group over the past year on the content of the TAR which was then developed in OSB Licensing Administration Application (OLAA).
LITs are encouraged to log in to complete the TAR in the coming months and to provide any feedback to osblicencebsf-bkhq@ised-isde.gc.ca about their experience.
The TAR asks that LITs attest to various items, including the following:
- Insurance
- Corporate structure
- Succession plan
- Individuals assisting with assessments
- Contract LITs and LITs who are non-employees
- Agreements with/referrals from debt consultants
- Compliance with Trustee Electronic Record Keeping (TERK) requirements
- Agreement with E-Filing terms of use
- Other confirmations dealing with various items such as solvency and employee defalcation
Information that is common to all LITs across a firm will be answered only by the LIT in charge for the firm. All LITs will need to respond to the eight confirmations as well as the EFile terms of use and the Trustee Electronic Record Keeping (TERK) attestation and declaration. Sole proprietors will be responsible to answer all items on the TAR. The TAR has been integrated into the OLAA and will be auto-populated with the prior year’s information such that LITs would only have to validate existing content or update with new information before attesting to its accuracy.
Completion of the TAR will be required in order to renew licences at the end of 2023 so the sooner LITs familiarize themselves with it, the better.
If you have any questions or for more information about the TAR and details on the items listed above, please visit the TAR webpage or contact the OSB at osblicencebsf-bkhq@ised-isde.gc.ca.