Bill Huzar, chair of the Consumers Council of Canada’s Consumer Protection Committee, has been elected chair of the Stakeholder Advisory Council (SAC) of the Canadian Payments Association (CPA) for a two-year term.
The CPA’s stakeholder advisory committee was established in 1996 on a voluntary basis and formalized in the Canadian Payments Act in 2001. The SAC provides advice to the CPA Board of Directors on payment, clearing, and settlement matters, and contributes input on proposed initiatives, including by-laws, policy statements, and rules that affect third parties. It identifies issues of concern to payment system users and third-party service providers, and suggests how they could be addressed.
In addition, SAC representatives serve on the Advisory Committee on CPA Policy and Regulatory Matters and the Conference Program Advisory Committee.
The SAC has a maximum of 20 members. The General By-law stipulates that a minimum of 12 members represent payments system users, including at least: two representatives of consumers; one representative of the retail sector; two representatives of governments; and one representative of the treasury and cash management sector.
A minimum of one member represents service providers to the payments system. Two positions are allocated to CPA Board members to facilitate the exchange of ideas between stakeholders and the Board. The remaining seats are open to either payments system users or service providers.