Consumer / Retail Financial Services

Our Group

Miller Thomson’s consumer/retail financial services practice provides legal advisory services in a range of business areas tailored for consumer finance and retail operations across Canada. Our lawyers have the in-depth legal and industry knowledge for Canadian retail operations and financing to assist domestic and international decision-makers with their legal needs, everyday.

Our Clients

Among others, we represent manufacturers and importers with retail distribution, sale and lease operations, captive acceptance companies dealing in consumer paper, lessors, lenders to these industries and their customers, their trade associations, direct sellers, and others who lease or finance consumer transactions.

Our Services

Among our consumer and retail sales, finance and lease clients, we:

• Represent lenders in retail sales financings to consumers and registrations under the regulatory statutes and with other provincial regulations and registrations, including cost of credit and direct sellers legislation
• Structure transactions to maximize tax efficiencies, such as off balance financing and sales of consumer lease or other debt contract portfolios for tax savings through capital cost allowance deductions
• Assist in the importing and exporting of the retail products, certificates of origin and transfer pricing
• Provide compliance advice for taxation on wholesale and retail product sales and leases, privacy for customers, e-commerce, Web-based transactions, business immigration for employees coming into Canada, and all aspects of dealer regulation and day-to-day operations including dealership and franchise agreements, trademark registration and licencing, and consumer protection legislation, including cost of credit
• Advise on federal and provincial privacy legislation
• Compliance with the Competition Act and provincial legislation on promotions, advertisements, and contests
• Assist with extended warranty programs (private-label program contracts and dealer forms) and private-label affinity credit card programs
• Assist with product labelling, Food and Drug legislation, product recalls and product warranty issues, including the Consumer Product Safety Act, creating mandatory reporting of product defects by anyone involved in the production and distribution chain.
• Represent captive acceptance companies and institutional lenders in every aspect of wholesale and retail financing
• Provide counsel on PPSA, collection work, seizure, repair and lien matters
• Represent receivers and lenders involved in enforcing the financing and leasing of dealerships
• Defend vendors, lessors and lenders in product accident claims and in instances of fraud
• Financing the floor planning of products and parts inventories, real estate construction and improvements
• Register trade-marks, prepare franchise disclosure documents and advise on franchise matters
• Advise on interest rate problems, including criminal interest rates and payday loan legislation