News

Toronto, April 8, 2022 – The Board of Directors for the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to establish a single, not-for-profit ombudsman for federally regulated banks announced in yesterday’s budget.

Toronto, March 31, 2022 – The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) has released a report to commemorate 25 years of financial services ombudsmanship in Canada and to reflect on the organization’s growth, accomplishments, and challenges since opening its doors in 1996.

Toronto, March 15, 2022 – The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) released its 2021 Annual Report.

“The past year marked a number of significant milestones for OBSI,” said Sarah Bradley, Ombudsman and CEO, OBSI. “We successfully managed the highest case volumes we have experienced in our 25-year history.

Toronto, March 3, 2022 – OBSI’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Chair, Maureen Jensen. Ms. Jensen joined the board as a director on September 23, 2021, and succeeds outgoing Chair, Mr. Jim Emmerton, who retired after serving as Chair for the past four years.

Click here to read OBSI e-news: Q4/2021.

Toronto, February 16, 2022 – The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) has released its year-end complaint volume figures for 2021.

Toronto, January 20, 2022 – With the start of the new year, the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) welcomed credit unions from across British Columbia as participating firms, joining Alberta and Saskatchewan credit unions who have offered OBSI services to their members since the mid-2000s.

At OBSI, we have seen a significant increase in complaints related to cryptocurrency and fraud. The case example below was originally published in our Consumer Bulletin: Cryptocurrency scams increasingly targeting and exploiting Canadians.

At OBSI, we have seen a significant increase in complaints related to cryptocurrency and fraud. The case example below was originally published in our Consumer Bulletin: Cryptocurrency scams increasingly targeting and exploiting Canadians.

A growing number of Canadians are interested in investing in new categories, such as cryptocurrency, but these emerging technologies and platforms are unfamiliar to most investors, giving fraudsters the advantage when they are looking for people to target. According to the RCMP, fraud involving cryptocurrency rose 400 per cent between 2017 and 2020. What had been hundreds of cases (734) in 2017 jumped to thousands of cases (7,598) in the first eight months of 2020, causing losses of almost $11 million dollars to Canadians since the onset of the pandemic.