Terms of Reference updated to reflect recent Bank Act change

OBSI’s Terms of Reference have recently been updated to reflect changes to the Bank Act consumer protection framework that came into force on June 30. The Bank Act now requires federally regulated banks’ internal dispute resolution process to deal with a consumer’s complaint within 56 days (previously it was 90 days).

To reflect the new requirement, on June 16 OBSI’s Board of Directors approved an update to the Terms of Reference to include a definition of an Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) Time Limit, and to refer to this time limit where relevant. The new definition states:

“IDR Time Limit” means the amount of time a Participating Firm has from the date of a consumer’s complaint to conduct its internal dispute resolution process before OBSI services must be made available to the consumer pursuant to its regulatory framework. Where no regulatory time limit applies, the IDR Time Limit is 90 calendar days.

OBSI participating firms that are not federally regulated banks still have up to 90 days to resolve a consumer complaint before OBSI’s services are available to their customers.

A copy of OBSI’s updated Terms of Reference is available here.