Announcements

Dear Members,

In the past few days, you may have seen references to gifts of life insurance policies to charities in British Columbia in your inboxes and on social media. We are well aware of this issue and working on it on behalf of our AFP Greater Vancouver membership and the sector as a whole.

Norton Rose Fulbright, a leading Vancouver law firm, recently released a legal update regarding enforcement activities by the BC Financial Services Authority (formerly FICOM). That update notes that BCFSA is interpreting the acceptance of life insurance policies by charities as “trafficking” – an offense under the Insurance Act. Further, BCFSA considers the mere mention of gifts of life insurance by charities as “soliciting” – another offense under the Act. Norton Rose Fulbright is recommending that charities remove such references from their marketing and communications materials until the matter is clarified. AFP Greater Vancouver agrees with this recommendation. To read the full update, click here.

We are actively working with AFP Canada’s Government Relations Committee, AFP Global, CAGP and other industry partners on our strategy and response. We recognize what a significant issue this is and will be updating our membership on next steps in due course.

We encourage all AFP members and charities to spread the word. If you are interested in getting more involved on this matter, please contact us at info@afpvancouver.org.

Membership in AFP is the best way to stay involved and the leverage the strength of AFP on issues like this that affect the sector. To learn more about membership benefits, click here.

David Love, CFRE
President
AFP Greater Vancouver

Andrea Wright, MBA
Vice President Government Relations & Communications
AFP Greater Vancouver