Terms of Reference Renewal Project: Public Consultation
The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) is seeking public comment on its updated Terms of Reference (TORs). OBSI continuously strives to build its reputation as Canada’s trusted, independent financial ombudsman, acting as an impartial and fair investigator of banking and investment related complaints.
Making the Terms of Reference easier to use and current
In developing its 2017-2021 strategic plan, OBSI identified key initiatives that will lay the foundation for OBSI to achieve its objectives of delivering high value service and of being the dispute resolution provider of choice for the financial industry and its consumers. One of the initiatives identified through this process was the modernization of OBSI’s TORs. This foundational document establishes OBSI’s principal powers and duties, scope of mandate, and processes for receiving, investigating and seeking resolutions of complaints, as well as the obligations of firms and other key issues. So, it is essential that the document be current, clear and easy to use.
The TORs renewal project also takes place in the context of OBSI’s plain language initiative. OBSI is in the process of reviewing how we communicate with consumers and firms. Our objective is to make our written communications clearer and easier for all parties to understand.
The current TORs have been amended periodically to address specific issues as they arose over the years. However, the overall structure, wording and continuity of the TORs have not been comprehensively updated recently. As a result, the TORs have become cumbersome to navigate and in some respects, duplicative and difficult to interpret.
As part of our TORs renewal project, we developed new updated TORs that are structured in a clear and logical manner, and that incorporate and reflect our current practices, procedures and perspectives. The updated TORs are not meant to reshape or extend OBSI’s mandate. Rather, many of the key changes are structural or stylistic, including an easier to follow heading and paragraph numbering system and the use of plain language. Certain established practices and procedures have also been added to the TORs, such as the reconsideration process. The updated TORs will create a better platform for any future substantive changes.
How we updated the TORs
With the assistance of an expert external consultant, OBSI’s senior management team and other staff who work closely with our TORs, identified key aspects of the TORs that required improvement to make them current, clear and helpful in reducing points of ambiguity for end users.
We analyzed the terms of reference of comparable financial ombudservices to discern best practices from other jurisdictions. We also conducted a detailed review of OBSI’s guidance notes and foundational documentation to ensure the updated TORs reflect our current organizational practices.
The updated draft TORs were reviewed and provisionally approved by OBSI’s Board of Directors. OBSI then sought and received comments from banking and securities regulators. This feedback was incorporated into the proposed updated TORs.
OBSI is seeking comments on the updated TORs
OBSI is now issuing the proposed updated TORs for public consultation. We encourage the public, consumer groups and firms to provide OBSI with written comments on the proposed updated TORs. All comment letters will be posted to our website unless confidentiality is specifically requested. Please send comments to:
Mark Wright, Director, Communications and Stakeholder Relations
401 Bay St., Suite 1505, P.O. Box 5
Toronto, ON, M5H 2Y4, or
Fax: 1-888-422-2865
Email: publicaffairs@obsi.ca
This consultation will last until the end of the business day on Thursday May 31, 2018. OBSI will review and consider comments received, make appropriate amendments to the updated TORs, if any, and present a final revised TORs document to our Board for formal adoption. If substantial revision of the updated TORs is undertaken, further regulatory consultation may be necessary.
To facilitate the review of the updated TORs we have attached the following documents:
The updated TORs (Appendix A)
The existing TORs (Appendix B)
Summary of Changes to the TORs (Appendix C)
The Table of Concordance (Appendix D)