The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) of Canada has published the attached "Warning Notice" (Issue No. 55), which lists the names of six entities recently brought to OSFI's attention. These entities are Bankers Financial and Security Trust, Toronto, Ontario; Equity Financial Trust, Toronto, Ontario; Falcon Financial and Trust, Toronto, Ontario; National Deposit, Toronto, Ontario; Standard Financial Trust Bank, Toronto, Ontario; and Unity Virtual Trust Group, Toronto, Ontario.

These entities, or persons representing them, are reportedly operating in Canada. They may be violating provisions of the Bank Act (Canada) or other Canadian financial institution regulations. They may also be conducting unauthorized banking transactions in the United States. Any proposed transactions involving these entities should be viewed with extreme caution.

Each "Warning Notice," beginning with Issue No. 1 through OSFI's latest cumulative "Warning List," may be found at: http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/osfi/index_e.aspx?ArticleID=166.

Any information about these entities may be forwarded to the FDIC's Special Activities Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-4040, Washington, D.C. 20429, or forwarded electronically to alert@fdic.gov.

For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2004/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts, Financial Institution Letters and other announcements through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

NOTE: Paper copies of FDIC Special Alerts may be obtained through the FDIC’s Public Information Center, 801 17th Street, NW, Room 100, Washington, DC 20434 (1-877-275-3342 or (703) 562-2200).

Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)