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Ottawa is cracking down on which financial services companies can use the words “bank” “banker” and “banking” to describe their business, a move that has drawn criticism from the country’s credit unions.

A national association for the cooperatives said Tuesday they will have to abandon longstanding and accepted language to describe their business, and undertake a costly overhaul to change logos, trademarks, marketing, and slogans.

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In an ironic twist, Ottawa’s new Canadian Infrastructure Bank, which is being created to fund projects to build and upgrade infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and ports, can continue to use ‘bank’ in its name.

“The government is inconsistently applying the rules to its own advantage and to protect banks at the expense of creating a level playing field for credit unions,” Martha Durdin, chief executive of the Canadian Credit Union Association, said in an interview.