The Financial Post reports in its Thursday, April 18, edition that the latest federal budget presented by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has proposed an increase in taxes for businesses and wealthy Canadians. The Post's Barbara Shecter writes that the country's largest banks and pension managers, however, can be relieved as the budget also outlines the next steps for competitive "open" banking and encourages pensions to invest more in the country. The biggest comfort for the banks is perhaps the appointment of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to oversee open banking, which will see them compete with financial technology (fintech) companies for customers on a range of products and services. The big banks are familiar with the FCAC through its role of promoting financial literacy and ensuring federally regulated institutions follow consumer-protection rules. There had been discussions about creating an entirely new government agency to oversee competitive open banking, as happened in the U.K., but the Canadian Bankers Association had been urging the federal government to use existing regulators to avoid duplicative or conflicting obligations. The bankers appear to have been successful in this regard.