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132, No. 5 — March 4, 1998
Registration
SOR/98-130 23 February, 1998
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT
Payments and Settlements Requisitioning Regulations, 1997
T.B. 825983-4 19 February, 1998
The Treasury Board, pursuant to sections 10 (see footnote a) and 33 of the Financial Administration Act, hereby makes the annexed Payments and Settlements Requisitioning Regulations, 1997.
PAYMENTS AND SETTLEMENTS REQUISITIONING REGULATIONS, 1997
INTERPRETATION
1. The definitions in this section apply in these Regulations.
"Act" means the Financial Administration Act. (Loi)
"digital signature" means the result of the transformation of a message by means of a cryptosystem using keys such that a person having the initial message can determine
(a) whether the transformation was created using the key that corresponds to the signer's key, and
(b) whether the message has been altered since the transformation was made. (signature numérique)
"settlement" does not include adjusting or correcting entries within a particular appropriation. (règlement)
APPLICATION
2. These Regulations apply to every requisition addressed to the Receiver General requesting a payment to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund or requesting an interdepartmental or intradepartmental settlement.
REQUIREMENTS
3. (1) Every requisition must be made
(a) in a pre-printed form designed specifically for the purpose of requisitioning payments or settlements;
(b) in a printed or written form resulting from an operating procedure of the Receiver General or the department or other organization submitting the requisition; or
(c) in the form of an electronic instruction that is either issued by on-line transfer or on a magnetic tape, disk, diskette or any other electronic physical storage device.
(2) Every requisition must
(a) meet the design format and operational standards for requisitions set out in Design of Forms for Input to the Central Accounting System (CAS), Receiver General Directive 1986-12;
(b) if made in the form of an electronic instruction issued by on-line transfer, be authorized by a digital signature; and
(c) contain the information set out in the schedule.
CERTIFICATION
4. The certification of a requisition must
(a) comply with the requirements of the Treasury Board's Policy on Account Verification for the control of financial transactions;
(b) be in such a form that it cannot easily be imitated or duplicated by a person other than the person authorized to certify the requisition; and
(c) be such that
(i) it clearly identifies the person certifying the requisition,
(ii) it involves the use of information that is personally generated at the time of certification by the person authorized to certify it and does not originate from a stored location as part of an automated process, and
(iii) it can be authenticated by the Receiver General before the payment or settlement is made and can be audited after the payment or settlement is made.
INTEGRITY
5. (1) The appropriate Minister shall protect the integrity of every requisition made by the Minister until the requisition is received by the Receiver General.
(2) The Receiver General shall protect the integrity of every requisition from the time it is received by the Receiver General until it is verified in accordance with section 6.
VERIFICATION
6. (1) The Receiver General shall not make a payment or settlement in respect of a requisition unless the Receiver General has
(a) verified that the requisition is authentic and has been certified by a person duly authorized under subsection 33(1) of the Act; and
(b) if the requisition has been made in the form of an electronic instruction issued by on-line transfer, acknowledged receipt of the requisition.
(2) The appropriate Minister shall, for the purpose of subsection (1), provide the Receiver General with the information required to identify the person who has certified the requisition.
REPEAL
7. The Payment Requisitioning Regulations (see footnote 1) are repealed.
COMING INTO FORCE
8. These Regulations come into force on February 23, 1998.
SCHEDULE
(Paragraph 3(2)(d))
INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS
1. The name or other identification of the department or other organization submitting the requisition and, where applicable, the particular organizational unit.
2. The date of the requisition and the date payment is required to be made.
3. The name of the payee.
4. The amount of the payment or settlement or, with the concurrence of the Receiver General, the information that forms the basis for calculating the amount.
5. The currency in which the payment or settlement is to be made, if other than Canadian.
6. The address to which the payment or advice of settlement is to be sent or, in the case of electronic instructions, the payee's financial institution number, branch number and account number.
7. In the case of recurring payments or settlements
(a) the effective date for the commencement of payment or settlement;
(b) the frequency of payment or settlement; and
(c) if applicable, the number of payments or settlements to be made or the date on which the last payment or settlement is to be made.
8. Certification in accordance with section 4 of these Regulations.
9. If applicable, the requisition or voucher serial number.
REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT
(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)
Description
Over the last few years, a number of significant changes have taken place in the way the federal government conducts its business. New concepts were adopted such as increased flexibility, personal accountability, decentralization and deregulation. More recently, other changes have affected the structure of several departments, forcing them to re-align a number of their operations. Other initiatives such as shared systems and locally shared support services are also impacting directly on how departments conduct their operations.
The Payment Requisitioning Regulations were revised to achieve administrative efficiencies by introducing the use of digital signatures to authorize and authenticate payment requisitions and by eliminating the need for the Receiver General to verify in detail the authority of the person authorizing the requisition.
The thrust of these Regulations continues to be the proper control over the process by prescribing the requirements concerning the payment requisitions submitted to the Receiver General by federal departments. It also specifies the form and manner of the transmission and certification of payment requisitions.
Alternatives
There is no alternative to the status quo. However, the potential cost savings and efficiencies available to the federal government from the proposed streamlining make it difficult to retain the status quo.
Benefits and Costs
The Regulations will provide a greater level of flexibility while maintaining an appropriate level of standardization to ensure the efficient processing of payment requisitions by the Receiver General. There are no costs associated with the provisions of these Regulations.
Consultation
When the proposed Regulations were drafted, Treasury Board Legal Services and the Receiver General were consulted, as well as twenty-four departments.
Compliance
No particular compliance provisions need to be made.
Contact
Gilles Vézina
Project Manager
Financial Management Policy Division
Deputy Comptroller General Branch
Treasury Board Secretariat
L'Esplanade Laurier, 8th Floor
West Tower
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1E4
Telephone: (613) 957-9660
FAX: (613) 952-9613
S.C. 1996, c. 18, s. 4
SOR/85-999; SOR/93-258
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