There's another consultation ahead but it’s some way down the road
Canadian investor advocates have been calling for a change to how complaints about investments are handled for many years, but it seems the wait goes on.
The Canadian Securities Administrators gave an update this week stating that it has been reviewing responses to a consultation on a proposed regulatory framework for an independent dispute resolution service which would have binding authority, expected to be the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI). Comments opened at the end of November 2023 and closed in February 2024 and included recommendations from IFIC.
The CSA says that is intends to issue a further publication for comment regarding similar powers for investment complaints but that this will not happen until the second half of 2025.
The case for a single external complaints resolution service was highlighted in a five-year study by Professor Poonam Puri that was published in 2022 and found that “weakness in OBSI’s current ability to use the ‘name and shame’ system effectively due to a presupposition that firms that are named will comply with recommendations.”
Investor advocate Kenmar Associates commented in 2021 that OBSI weakness is not just about the lack of binding authority and called out industry practices and structural issues that take away from ombudsman's authority.
OBSI’s new authority for banking complaints was welcomed by FAIR Canada, but the organization said there is still more to be done to ensure investors gain stronger protection from a single external complaints body for investment, stating that some investment firms pressure customers into accepting lower compensation than what OBSI suggests and that from 2015 to 2020, investment firms paid consumers nearly $3 million less than OBSI had recommended.
“For more than a decade, FAIR Canada and fellow consumer groups have advocated for binding authority, as it will level the playing field between consumers and investment firms,” said Jean-Paul Bureaud, executive director, FAIR Canada. “It will also align Canada with international standards for dispute resolution and boost confidence in its financial markets. Binding authority would mark a major milestone in ensuring fairer outcomes for consumers in their investment disputes.”
Although a Canada-wide decision is still some way off, FAIR Canada, Prosper Canada, Kenmar Associates, and CanAge were among the groups that hailed Saskatchewan lawmakers’ “proactive stance” in giving OBSI binding decisions for investor complaints in the province earlier this year.
