Bulletins

Recent financial market turmoil has created an exceptionally challenging environment for financial firms and their customers. Past market downturns have demonstrated that in such difficult times, consumer complaints increase, placing an additional strain on firm resources.

Romance and employment scams are the most common online scams we see at OBSI. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Canadians lost more than $22.5 million to romance scams and more than $5 million to employment scams in 2018.

As students head to college or university, financial services firms can expect visits from parents and students planning to make Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) withdrawals, but this process is not straightforward and can have consequences that many consumers do not expect.

Binary options are a very high-risk investment that Canadians should avoid. It is like a placing an all or nothing bet on the performance of an underlying asset.

As you may have heard, fraudsters recently claimed to have access to the personal and account information of some BMO and Simplii Financial clients.

OBSI is pleased to announce the launch of our newly updated Consent Letter and What to Expect document.

A Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is one of many ways to save for your child’s education. When choosing an RESP it is important to shop around and to understand the range of different RESP types available in Canada.

The financial concerns commonly faced by seniors are at the forefront of Canadians’ minds during senior’s month, 2016. Many investing seniors are seeking to maximise their retirement income.

Stretching your hard earned savings becomes more important as you approach retirement. If you have a financial advisor, you can work with them to explore investment options that may help to maximize your retirement income.

Is it true that “seniors cannot afford to take any risks” when it comes to investing?

We often receive complaints from seniors about investments that have lost money, and some suggest that any high risk investments should have been considered unsuitable by their investment advisor.