(b) the application is supported by satisfactory evidence that the applicants have complied with the requirements of this Part relating to amalgamations.

Application of sections 672 to 674

(3) If two or more bodies corporate, none of which is a bank holding company, apply for letters patent under subsection (1), sections 672 to 674 apply in respect of the application with any modifications that the circumstances require.

Matters for consideration

(4) Before issuing letters patent of amalgamation continuing the applicants as one bank holding company, the Minister shall take into account all matters that the Minister considers relevant to the application, including

    (a) the sources of continuing financial support for any bank that will be a subsidiary of the amalgamated bank holding company;

    (b) the soundness and feasibility of the plans of the applicants for the future conduct and development of the business of any bank that will be a subsidiary of the amalgamated bank holding company;

    (c) the business record and experience of the applicants;

    (d) the reputation of the applicants for being operated in a manner that is consistent with the standards of good character and integrity;

    (e) whether the amalgamated bank holding company will be operated responsibly by persons with the competence and experience suitable for involvement in the operation of a financial institution;

    (f) the impact of any integration of the operations and businesses of the applicants on the conduct of those operations and businesses;

    (g) the opinion of the Superintendent regarding the extent to which the proposed corporate structure of the amalgamated bank holding company and its affiliates may affect the supervision and regulation of any bank that will be its subsidiary, having regard to

      (i) the nature and extent of the proposed financial services activities to be carried out by the affiliates of the amalgamated bank holding company, and

      (ii) the nature and degree of supervision and regulation applying to the proposed financial services activities to be carried out by the affiliates of the amalgamated bank holding company; and

    (h) the best interests of the financial system in Canada.

Issue of letters patent

809. (1) Where an application has been made to the Minister in accordance with section 808, the Minister may issue letters patent of amalgamation continuing the applicants as one bank holding company.

Letters patent

(2) Where letters patent are issued pursuant to this section, section 676 applies with such modifications as the circumstances require in respect of the issue of the letters patent.

Publication of notice

(3) The Superintendent shall cause to be published in the Canada Gazette notice of the issuance of letters patent pursuant to subsection (1).

Court enforcement

810. (1) If a bank holding company or any director, officer, employee or agent of a bank holding company is contravening or has failed to comply with any term or condition made in respect of the issuance of letters patent of amalgamation, the Minister may, in addition to any other action that may be taken under this Act, apply to a court for an order directing the bank holding company or the director, officer, employee or agent to comply with the term or condition, cease the contravention or do any thing that is required to be done, and on the application the court may so order and make any other order it thinks fit.

Appeal

(2) An appeal from an order of a court under this section lies in the same manner as, and to the same court to which, an appeal may be taken from any other order of the court.

Effect of letters patent

811. (1) On the day provided for in the letters patent issued under section 809,

    (a) the amalgamation of the applicants and their continuance as one bank holding company becomes effective;

    (b) the property of each applicant continues to be the property of the amalgamated bank holding company;

    (c) the amalgamated bank holding company continues to be liable for the obligations of each applicant;

    (d) any existing cause of action, claim or liability to prosecution is unaffected;

    (e) any civil, criminal or administrative action or proceeding pending by or against an applicant may be continued to be prosecuted by or against the amalgamated bank holding company;

    (f) any conviction against, or ruling, order or judgment in favour of or against, an applicant may be enforced by or against the amalgamated bank holding company;

    (g) if any director or officer of an applicant continues as a director or officer of the amalgamated bank holding company, any disclosure by that director or officer of a material interest in any contract made to the applicant shall be deemed to be disclosure to the amalgamated bank holding company; and

    (h) the letters patent of amalgamation are the incorporating instrument of the amalgamated bank holding company.

Minutes

(2) Any deemed disclosure under paragraph (1)(g) shall be recorded in the minutes of the first meeting of directors of the amalgamated bank holding company.

Transitional

812. (1) Despite any other provision of this Act or the regulations, the Minister may, by order, on the recommendation of the Superintendent, grant to a bank holding company in respect of which letters patent were issued under subsection 809(1) permission to

    (a) engage in a business activity specified in the order that a bank holding company is not otherwise permitted by this Act to engage in and that one or more of the amalgamating bodies corporate was engaging in at the time application for the letters patent was made;

    (b) continue to have issued and outstanding debt obligations the issue of which is not authorized by this Act if the debt obligations were outstanding at the time the application for the letters patent was made;

    (c) hold assets that a bank holding company is not otherwise permitted by this Act to hold if the assets were held by one or more of the amalgamating bodies corporate at the time the application for the letters patent was made;

    (d) acquire and hold assets that a bank holding company is not otherwise permitted by this Act to acquire or hold if one or more of the amalgamating bodies corporate were obliged, at the time the application for the letters patent was made, to acquire those assets; and

    (e) maintain outside Canada any records or registers required by this Act to be maintained in Canada and maintain and process, outside Canada, information and data relating to the preparation and maintenance of such records or registers.

Duration of exceptions

(2) The permission granted under subsection (1) shall be expressed to be granted for a period specified in the order not exceeding

    (a) with respect to any matter described in paragraph (1)(a), thirty days after the date of issue of the letters patent or, where the activity is conducted pursuant to an agreement existing on the date of issue of the letters patent, the expiration of the agreement;

    (b) with respect to any matter described in paragraph (1)(b), ten years; and

    (c) with respect to any matter described in any of paragraphs (1)(c) to (e), two years.

Renewal

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the Minister may, by order on the recommendation of the Superintendent, renew a permission granted by order under subsection (1) with respect to any matter described in any of paragraphs (1)(b) to (d) for any further period or periods that the Minister considers necessary.

Limitation

(4) The Minister shall not grant to a bank holding company any permission

    (a) with respect to matters described in paragraph (1)(b), that purports to be effective more than ten years after the effective date of the letters patent of amalgamation, unless the Minister is satisfied on the basis of evidence on oath provided by an officer of the bank holding company that the bank holding company will not be able at law to redeem at the end of the ten years the outstanding debt obligations to which the permission relates; and

    (b) with respect to matters described in paragraphs (1)(c) and (d), that purports to be effective more than ten years after the effective date of the letters patent.

Transfer of Business

Shareholder approval

813. (1) A sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all the property of a bank holding company requires the approval of the shareholders in accordance with subsections (2) to (7).

Notice of meeting

(2) A notice of a meeting of shareholders complying with sections 727 and 730 shall be sent in accordance with those sections to each shareholder and shall include or be accompanied by a copy or summary of the agreement of sale, lease or exchange.

Shareholder approval

(3) At the meeting referred to in the notice, the shareholders may authorize the sale, lease or exchange and may fix or authorize the directors to fix any of the sale's, lease's or exchange's terms and conditions.

Right to vote

(4) Each share of the bank holding company carries the right to vote in respect of the proposal whether or not the share otherwise carries the right to vote.

Class vote

(5) The holders of shares of a class or series of shares of the bank holding company are entitled to vote separately as a class or series in respect of the proposal if the shares of the class or series are affected by the proposed transaction in a manner different from the shares of another class or series.

Special resolution

(6) For the purpose of subsection (1), the proposal is not approved unless the holders of the shares of each class or series of shares entitled to vote separately on the proposal have approved the proposal by special resolution.

Abandoning transaction

(7) Where a special resolution under subsection (6) approving a proposed transaction so states, the directors of a bank holding company may, subject to the rights of third parties, abandon the transaction without further approval of the shareholders.

Corporate Records

Head Office and Corporate Records

Head office

814. (1) A bank holding company shall at all times have a head office in the place within Canada specified in its incorporating instrument or by-laws.

Change of head office

(2) The directors of a bank holding company may change the address of the head office within the place specified in the incorporating instrument or by-laws.

Notice of change of address

(3) A bank holding company shall send to the Superintendent, within fifteen days after any change of address of its head office, a notice of the change of address.

Bank holding company records

815. (1) A bank holding company shall prepare and maintain records containing

    (a) its incorporating instrument and by-laws and all amendments to them;

    (b) minutes of meetings and resolutions of shareholders;

    (c) the information referred to in paragraphs 951(1)(a) and (c) to (g) contained in all returns provided to the Superintendent pursuant to section 951; and

    (d) particulars of exceptions granted under section 688 or 812 that are from time to time applicable to the bank holding company.

Additional records

(2) In addition to the records described in subsection (1), a bank holding company shall prepare and maintain adequate

    (a) corporate accounting records; and

    (b) records containing minutes of meetings and resolutions of the board of directors and those of its committees.

Continued bank holding companies

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) and subsection (2),

    (a) in the case of a body corporate continued as a bank holding company, ``records'' includes similar records required by law to be maintained by the body corporate before it was so continued; and

    (b) in the case of a body corporate amalgamated and continued as a bank holding company, ``records'' includes similar records required by law to be maintained by the body corporate before it was so amalgamated.

Place of records

816. (1) The records described in section 815 shall be kept at the head office of the bank holding company or at such other place in Canada as the directors think fit.

Notice of place of records

(2) Where any of the records described in section 815 are not kept at the head office of a bank holding company, the bank holding company shall notify the Superintendent of the place where the records are kept.

Inspection

(3) The records described in section 815 shall at all reasonable times be open to inspection by the directors.

Access to bank holding company records

(4) Shareholders and creditors of a bank holding company and their personal representatives may examine the records referred to in subsection 815(1) during the usual business hours of the bank holding company, and may take extracts therefrom, free of charge, or have copies made thereof on payment of a reasonable fee and, where the bank holding company is a distributing bank holding company within the meaning of subsection 265(1), any other person may, on payment of a reasonable fee, examine such records and take extracts therefrom or copies thereof.

Copies of by-laws

(5) Every shareholder of a bank holding company is entitled, on request made not more frequently than once in each calendar year, to receive, free of charge, one copy of the by-laws of the bank holding company.

Electronic access

(6) A bank holding company may make the information contained in records referred to in subsection 815(1) available to persons by any system of mechanical or electronic data processing or any other information storage device that is capable of reproducing the records in intelligible written form within a reasonable time.

Shareholder lists

817. (1) A person who is entitled to a basic list of shareholders of a bank holding company (in this section referred to as the ``applicant'') may request the bank holding company to furnish the applicant with a basic list within ten days after receipt by the bank holding company of the affidavit referred to in subsection (2) and, on payment of a reasonable fee by the applicant, the bank holding company shall comply with the request.

Affidavit and contents

(2) A request under subsection (1) must be accompanied by an affidavit containing

    (a) the name and address of the applicant,

    (b) the name and address for service of the entity, if the applicant is an entity, and

    (c) an undertaking that the basic list and any supplemental lists obtained pursuant to subsections (5) and (6) will not be used except as permitted under section 819,

and, if the applicant is an entity, the affidavit shall be made by a director or an officer of the entity, or any person acting in a similar capacity.

Entitlement

(3) Every shareholder or creditor of a bank holding company or the personal representative of a shareholder or creditor of a bank holding company is entitled to a basic list of shareholders of the bank holding company, but, if the bank holding company is a distributing bank holding company within the meaning of subsection 265(1), any person is entitled to a basic list of shareholders of the bank holding company on request therefor.

Basic list

(4) A basic list of shareholders of a bank holding company consists of a list of shareholders that is made up to a date not more than ten days before the receipt of the affidavit referred to in subsection (2) and that sets out

    (a) the names of the shareholders of the bank holding company;

    (b) the number of shares owned by each shareholder; and

    (c) the address of each shareholder as shown in the records of the bank holding company.

Supplemental lists

(5) A person requiring a bank holding company to supply a basic list of shareholders may, if the person states in the accompanying affidavit that supplemental lists are required, request the bank holding company or its agent, on payment of a reasonable fee, to provide supplemental lists of shareholders setting out any changes from the basic list in the names and addresses of the shareholders and the number of shares owned by each shareholder for each business day following the date to which the basic list is made up.

When supplemental lists to be furnished

(6) A bank holding company or its agent shall provide a supplemental list of shareholders required under subsection (5)

    (a) within ten days following the date the basic list is provided, where the information relates to changes that took place prior to that date; and

    (b) within ten days following the day to which the supplemental list relates, where the information relates to changes that took place on or after the date the basic list was provided.