The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) of Canada has published the attached “Warning Notice” (Issue No. 56), which lists the names of four entities recently brought to OSFI's attention. These entities are Allcanadian Financial Co., Toronto, Ontario; FairBank Group, St-Raphael, Quebec; Development & Holding Bank of Belize, Belize; and Hermes Bancorp, Montreal, Quebec.

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.

The OSFI Warning Notice, Issue No. 56, also includes information on Centennial Insurance Company, which may be an unauthorized Costa Rican entity writing insurance in Canada.

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, NW, 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 Special Alerts, Financial Institution Letters and other announcements through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html. This Special Alert supersedes SA-24-2004.

Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)

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).