Professor Poonam Puri to conduct OBSI’s 2021 Banking and Investment independent external reviews
OBSI’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Poonam Puri to lead external reviews to evaluate OBSI’s operations and practices for both banking-related and investment-related complaints. The purpose of these independent reviews is to determine whether OBSI is fulfilling its regulatory obligations and operating effectively in accordance with recognized best practices for financial services ombudsmen.
Prof. Puri is one of Canada’s leading experts in corporate governance, corporate law and securities law. She has served as both Associate Dean and Associate Dean, Research, Graduate Studies and Institutional Relations at Osgoode Hall Law School, and she has co-authored/co-edited close to 100 books, book chapters, scholarly articles in leading journals, and commissioned research reports. Prof. Puri is also Co-Founder and Director of the Osgoode Investor Protection Clinic. For more information about Prof. Puri, please visit https://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/faculty-and-staff/puri-poonam/.
OBSI’s Terms of Reference require OBSI to submit to knowledgeable, independent third-party evaluations of its operations conducted according to timelines set out by banking and securities regulators.
This will be OBSI’s second review of its securities mandate, as required under its 2014 Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian Securities Administrators. OBSI previously participated in a 2016 independent review of its securities mandate.
This will be OBSI’s first independent review of its banking mandate since being designated one of two External Complaint Bodies, which are regulated by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Previous independent reviews of OBSI’s combined banking and securities mandate were undertaken in 2007 and 2011.
It is expected that Prof. Puri and her team will undertake a process of stakeholder outreach and public consultation as part of their evaluation work. Requests for public comment will be posted on the public consultations page of OBSI’s website.