OBSI updates terms in its mandate, awaits greater regulatory reform

The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) has modified the terms it uses to describe its duties, but is still waiting for regulators to take action on more meaningful reforms recommended for the agency.

The OBSI board has approved changes to the terms of reference (TORs) of the industry dispute resolution service, updating the foundational document that sets out OBSI’s mandate, powers, duties and process.

The revised TORs have been “modernized to ensure they are current, clear and easy to use,” OBSI said in a release published Tuesday.

Although the changes aim to update OBSI’s mandate, they don’t deal with some of the more substantive issues raised in its most recent independent review, which recommended, among other things, that OBSI be given the power to make binding compensation decisions.

This sort of change would have to be an initiative of the regulators that oversee OBSI—the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the industry self-regulatory organizations.

Alongside the revised TORs, OBSI also published a summary of the comments received during the public consultation process and its responses to those comments, which underscore that the revisions don’t involve major reforms.

For example, one commenter suggested OBSI add binding authority to its TORs. “We appreciate this feedback, and we agree with the recommendation that OBSI be given binding authority for our CSA mandate, but that is beyond the scope of this project,” OBSI says in its response.

Similarly, commenters called for OBSI to increase the $350,000 limit on compensation recommendations. “Changes to our monetary limits would be a substantive change, and it is out of scope for this project,” OBSI replies.

OBSI adds that it’s considering how to be more transparent with its systemic issues reports. “This topic is, however, out of scope for this project,” it says.

The revised TORs and a summary of comments are available on the OBSI website.

Staff

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