Firm Bulletin: 2023 Fees for Participating Firms

How OBSI fees are determined

Participating firm fees are set annually by the OBSI Board of Directors in accordance with our corporate Bylaw. As a not-for-profit organization, participating firm fees fund all our operations and are set on a cost-recovery basis.

Each year, we establish a fee target based on our budget for the coming year and divide that fee target between the sectors of firms that use our service. The division of fees among the different sectors is based on the proportion of OBSI resources that each sector has used in the previous year, which we determine by analysing each sector’s recent case volumes and case complexity. Our board also considers fairness and the impact of fee changes on member firms when setting fees. A guiding principle is that no sector or registrant category should subsidize another. Therefore, fees each year can change, even when our budget has remained stable. You can find more information about how our fees are determined here.

2023 budget increases necessary to deal with continued rising case volumes

For the past decade, OBSI’s budget has been prudently managed within a narrow range, respecting the needs of firms and consumers for an efficient, effective service. Within this budget, in recent years we have made substantial operational improvements and built up our organization’s reserve funds to target levels.

For 2023, we expect to continue to respond to increased case volumes due to market volatility, financial uncertainty related to inflation and interest rate changes, as well as regulatory shifts. To deal effectively with this case volume, we will need to ensure that we have adequate staff resources to maintain our service levels.

Our 2023 budget will reflect this need for additional staff and as a result is approximately 10% higher than our 2022 budget. Virtually all of this increase is related to increased personnel requirements.

2023 participating firm fees

As a result of the requirement for increases in our operational budget, our fee target for participating firms will increase by approximately 12% overall in 2023.

The reason that fee increases are slightly higher than budget increases for 2023 is to allow for a modest increase in our operating reserve fund, which is currently below target levels.

Notably, our case volumes last year increased approximately 37%. As case volumes increase, we continue to recognize gains in efficiency related to economies of scale and scope and our ongoing process efficiency efforts.

Outlined below are the fees by sector, which are determined based on each sector’s relative case volume and complexity as described above:

• Banks: The fees for the banking sector will increase by 20% relative to 2022. Banking case volumes last year increased 52% from the prior year.
• Credit Unions: The credit union sector was created for the 2022 fiscal year. Fees for this sector will remain fixed for 2023, while case volume experience is assessed.
• IIROC and MFDA firms: The fees for IIROC and MFDA firms will increase by 7%. Case volumes for these sectors increased 14% last year from the prior year.
• Exempt Market Dealers & Portfolio Managers: The fees for this sector overall will increase by 16% from 2022 levels and per representative fees will increase to $153 from $132 in 2022. Case volumes for these sectors increased 60% last year from the prior year.
• Scholarship Plan Dealers: The fees for this sector overall will increase by 63% from 2022 levels and per representative fees will increase to $329. This significant increase is based on the case volumes for the sector, which increased 86% last year from 2020 levels.

Fees for each firm within each sector are set proportionately on the basis of firm size. In some sectors, size is determined by each firm’s assets, and in other sectors, by number of registered representatives.

Expect to hear from us in November

OBSI’s fiscal year begins on November 1. Your firm can expect to receive instructions in November on how to complete your membership renewal.

Firms who are invoiced annually or quarterly will be contacted with their invoices and provided with options for completing their payments.

Firms who use the OBSI Firm Portal to calculate and process their membership renewals will receive detailed information and instructions for logging into the Portal and paying via the Portal once the form is available on November 1, 2022.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email membership@obsi.ca or call 1 888 451-4519 x 2418.