What to Expect for Firms

• Under securities and banking laws and regulations, you are obliged to address consumer complaints fairly and to provide written substantive responses to complaints within established timeframes.
• In the written response, you are required to notify your client of their right to escalate their complaint to OBSI within 180 days if their complaint is not resolved to their satisfaction.
• If you do not provide a substantive written response to the consumer’s complaint, they can escalate their complaint to OBSI after a certain number of days have passed since they made their complaint to you: 56 days if you are a bank or federal credit union, or 90 days if you are an investment firm or provincial credit union.
• By participating in our complaint process, consumers do not give up their right to pursue legal action or other forms of dispute resolution available to them if they are not satisfied with our findings. They are also free at any time to file their complaint with your firm’s regulator.

• We will gather information from the consumer and get their permission for information-sharing between you and OBSI about their case.
• We will send you a copy of the complaint and their consent letter and request your files.
• You can send your files to us through our Firm Portal, which you can access through our website.
• We will review the materials that you provide. Once we are satisfied that we have the documentation we need from you, we will assign an investigator.
• We make every effort to identify all relevant documentation in advance, however, the investigator may request additional information or documentation from you at any point during the investigation.
• The investigator will get in touch with the designated contact at your firm to introduce themselves, provide their contact information, and schedule the first interview.

• The investigator will interview the consumer and the advisor or representative involved in the case. If they are no longer at your firm, we will make every effort to speak with them. If we interview anyone who is not an employee of your firm, we will require them to sign a Confidentiality Agreement.
• To ensure confidentiality, promote candour and facilitate conflict resolution, we do not record interviews or phone calls. For the same reasons, we do not allow firms or clients to record our interviews or phone calls.
• During the investigation, the investigator may identify issues not identified by the consumer. If that happens, they will ask the consumer whether they would like to address them.
• If the case requires financial analyses, such as risk rating of securities or portfolio valuations, our Financial Analysis team will assist. They will work with the investigator to research securities, analyze accounts and conduct loss calculations/financial harm. We will share the details of their calculations with you.
• The investigator will provide an update at least every 30 days to keep you up to date on the progress of the investigation.
• During the investigation, the investigator will also discuss relevant issues and concerns with you as well as give you an opportunity to comment and express your position.
• We close most banking cases in less than 60 days and most investment cases in less than 90 days. We close almost all banking cases in less than 90 days and almost all investment cases in less than 120 days. Some cases may take longer if they are complex or there are delays relating to availability or participation by the firm or consumer.

Where no compensation is warranted

• If we believe that no compensation is owed to the consumer, we will telephone them to explain our reasons and provide our reasons in writing. A copy of this letter will also be sent to you.

Where a financial settlement can be reached

• If you make an offer at any point during the investigation, we will share it with the consumer. If the consumer accepts the offer, we will close our case.
• If we believe that your firm should compensate the consumer to resolve the complaint, we will try to facilitate a settlement through discussion.
• To help facilitate a settlement, we may prepare a written Facilitated Settlement Proposal to summarize our findings and recommendation which we will send to you and the consumer for comment.
• If you and the consumer can settle the case through this process, we will document the terms of the settlement in a closing letter to both of you, and we will close our case.

Compensation disagreements

• Generally, we recommend a compensation amount that is equal to your client’s direct losses plus interest, or a return they would have received on that amount were it not for the action or inaction.
• For complaints with merit, we can recommend monetary compensation up to a maximum of $350,000 or nonmonetary compensation such as an adjustment to a credit bureau score.
• Our recommendations are not binding for firms or clients.
• If we conclude that an offer you have already made is fair based on the circumstances of the case, we will recommend that the consumer accept it, and if they do not, we will close our case.
• If we believe that a financial settlement is warranted but we are unable to reach a facilitated settlement, we will draft an Investigation Report setting out the reasons for our recommendation in detail.
• Both you and the consumer will be provided with a draft of the Investigation Report and will have the opportunity for comment before it is finalized.
• If, after receiving the final investigation report, you continue to refuse our recommendation, we are obligated, under our Terms of Reference, to publish the findings of the investigation, including publicly naming your firm and your refusal to comply. The consumer’s name is protected to maintain their privacy.
• The publication process involves a formal notification to your firm’s CEO, your firm’s principal regulators, and OBSI’s board of directors.
• Most cases do not reach the publication stage. We have a very good track record for resolving disputes between firms and clients and recommending a fair outcome for both parties.

We will send out a Firm Survey in late November to solicit your opinions and feedback about our overall service, the performance of our staff and the quality of your staff interactions.

• We are committed to resolving and reducing disputes between consumers and firms by conducting fair and accessible investigations that lead to fair outcomes for both parties. We are an impartial service that neither advocates for the industry nor the consumer.
• We do not recommend punishment or fines against you or your advisor. That’s the role of the regulators.
• We offer a free advice service for participating firms through our Firm Helpdesk to help you reduce and resolve disputes with your clients, however, we cannot provide advice about an open case or active OBSI investigation.
• We will not investigate complaints about the general pricing of your firm’s products or services (e.g. fees or interest rate on a credit card), complaints about your firm’s business decisions (e.g. security measures, discontinuing a product or service), and complaints that are before the courts or complaints that have been settled with the client.