Maureen Jensen joins OBSI Board to become next Chair

Toronto, September 23, 2021 – OBSI’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Maureen Jensen to the board effective immediately. Ms. Jensen has also been selected to be nominated as the next Chair of OBSI’s Board of Directors at the next Annual General Meeting of the organization to be held in March 2022. Ms. Jensen will succeed Jim Emmerton, whose term as Chair will be coming to an end following 12 years of service.

Ms. Jensen has been a leader in the investment industry and securities regulation for more than 20 years. She is the past Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). Prior to her service in that role, Ms. Jensen was the OSC’s Executive Director and Chief Administrative Officer. Ms. Jensen has also held senior roles at the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), the Market Regulation Services Inc. and was a director of the Toronto Stock Exchange.  

“It is my pleasure to welcome to the board Maureen Jensen, who has been a strong supporter of OBSI throughout the years as well as a long-standing proponent of investor protection as a critical pillar of a prosperous financial services sector. She is an exceptional leader and an excellent addition to the board,” said Mr. Emmerton. “This is an important time for Canada’s financial consumer protection framework and for OBSI. The Liberal Government committed in its election platform to establish a single banking ombudsman with binding authority to replace the current system where banks can choose the referee for complaints. And Canadian securities regulators are working with OBSI to establish binding authority for investor complaints. Federal and provincial governments and regulators are clearly recognizing the critical role an ombudsman service can play. I am delighted to be able to welcome such a strong and effective leader to OBSI to help shepherd the organization through the years to come.”

“As a supporter of OBSI dating back to my years of leadership at the OSC, I look forward to working with the board and OBSI stakeholders to support OBSI’s public interest mandate and its ongoing efforts to inspire confidence in Canada’s financial services system,” said Ms. Jensen. “Especially now, as Canadian governments both federally and provincially are undertaking key initiatives to strengthen financial consumer protection and ensure that an effective and fair financial ombudsman service is in place for Canadian consumers and industry.”

Ms. Jensen’s appointment follows an intensive search led by the board’s Governance and Human Resources Committee which began earlier this year.

OBSI’s board and staff congratulate Ms. Jensen on her appointment and look forward to working with her in her new role.

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Canada’s Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) is a national, independent and not-for-profit organization that helps resolve and reduce disputes between consumers and financial services firms in both official languages. OBSI is responsive to consumer inquiries, conducts fair and accessible investigations of unresolved disputes, and shares its knowledge and expertise with the stakeholders and the public. If a consumer has a complaint against an OBSI participating bank or investment firm that they are not able to resolve with the bank or firm, OBSI will investigate at no cost to the consumer. Where a complaint has merit, OBSI may recommend compensation up to a maximum of $350,000.

For more information, contact:
Mark Wright, Director, Communications and Stakeholder Relations
416-287-2877 ext.2225
publicaffairs@obsi.ca