OBSI News

OBSI 2020 Annual Report released: consumer complaints increase in 2020

Toronto, April 29, 2021 – The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) has released its Annual Report for 2020.

“The challenges of 2020 were unprecedented for OBSI, as they were for people and organizations around the world, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sarah Bradley, Ombudsman and CEO, “and I am proud of the outstanding performance of our organization through this difficult period. Our work for the year has taken place in the context of two overarching external challenges:...

OBSI e-News: Q1/2021

Read OBSI's latest newsletter featuring our annual report, our latest consumer bulletin for fraud month, and more.

Click here to read OBSI e-news: Q1/2021.

Consumer Bulletin: Sometimes fraudsters are people we know

Canadians have good reason to fear getting scammed.

Nearly a quarter of the banking cases OBSI received in 2020 were related to fraud, making it the most reported banking issue of the year. According to the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre, fraud is on the rise. In 2020, Canadians lost $106.4 million to fraud compared to $96 million in 2019.

Many of these frauds and scams are perpetrated by criminals hiding behind false identities on the internet, and it seems these fraudsters are always figuring out new...

OBSI announces new Board and CIAC members

OBSI’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce two recent appointments to the board and one to the Consumer and Investor Advisory Council (CIAC):

• Suresh Krishnasamy has joined the board as the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) nominee. He is the Chief Operating Officer, North American Personal and Business Banking for BMO Financial Group. Mr. Krishnasamy joined BMO in 2006 from McKinsey and Company. He has since held executive leadership roles in strategy, finance, and operating groups. 

OBSI releases 2020 Annual Report

Every March, we release our annual report to share OBSI’s achievements over the past year. This year, we celebrate one of our biggest milestones to date — 25 years of service and a demonstrated track record for inspiring confidence in Canada’s financial services sector. But we also remember the past year as a time of turmoil that deeply impacted the personal and professional lives of Canadians. In their commentary, our board chair, Jim Emmerton, and Ombudsman and CEO, Sarah Bradley, reflect on how...