Fee Payment Structure

How OBSI determines and charges fees to participating firms

OBSI is a not-for-profit organization that operates on a cost-recovery basis.

OBSI's budget and the allocation of this budget between the different industry sectors that use OBSI's services is approved by OBSI's Board of Directors each September. This allocation is founded on the principle that no one sector or registrant category should subsidize another.

For fee purposes, OBSI has five industry sectors:

1. Banks and other federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs);
2. Investment firms that are members of Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), which include investment dealers and mutual fund dealers;
3. Investment firms that are not members of CIRO, which include portfolio managers (PMs), exempt market dealers (EMDs), Restricted Portfolio Managers, Restricted Dealers and Investment Fund Managers (IFMs); 
4. Scholarship plan dealers (SPDs); and
5. Provincial credit unions.

Sector Allocation

The allocation of the budget among the five industry sectors is based on the total number and complexity of the cases opened for each sector in the previously completed year.

Once the budget has been allocated to each sector, fees for each firm in the sector are determined. This determination is made on the basis of firm size as described below.

Bank fees

For banks and other FRFIs, the banking sector allocation is divided among institutions on the basis of each firm’s size and complaint volumes.

For each institution, fees will be assessed 25% on the basis of the bank’s asset size relative to other institutions and 75% on its complaint volumes in the preceding three-year period relative to other banks.

Banks and FRFIs with three-year average case volumes of less than one complaint per year are charged a flat annual minimum fee.

CIRO member fees

For CIRO member fees, there is a further allocation between investment dealers and mutual fund dealers based on their proportionate share of cases opened over a trailing eight quarter period. CIRO then allocates firm-specific fees among their firms using their own membership payment calculation methodology. 

SPD fees

For SPDs, the allocation of fees is divided among institutions on the basis of their net plan assets as set out in their most recent audited financial statements.

Other investment firm fees

For all other investment firms (including PMs, EMDs, IFMs, and restricted dealers), fees are paid based on each firm's number of registered representatives. The per-representative fee is determined by dividing the sector's budget allocation by the total number of representatives reported for the sector in the previous year. To determine their fees, firms log onto OBSI's online firm portal and use the fee calculator to input their total number of registered representatives for the current fiscal year (excluding those representatives that work exclusively in Quebec or deal exclusively with permitted clients). An invoice is created and firms pay OBSI directly.

Provincial Credit Union fees

For provincially regulated credit unions, the sector allocation is divided based on each credit union’s assets relative to credit unions participating in OBSI’s service.  For very small credit unions, there is a minimum membership fee.