Case Studies

In January 2007 Ms. P was 52 years old. Her ex-husband had recently passed away leaving her about $300,000 in an RRSP at a large bankowned investment firm. She contacted the advisors on the RRSP account to discuss estate transfer matters.

Mr. A's parents had signed a Power of Attorney (POA), prepared by their lawyer, giving their son wide-ranging control over their financial affairs. For almost a decade, Mr. A managed his parents' finances without incident.

Ms. D and her common-law spouse of 33 years had a $120,000 investment to which they had both contributed over the years. Both elderly, in 2003, they decided to cash out their investment and received a jointly payable cheque. The couple visited their bank and met with their banking representative. Ms. D's spouse identified the account which the cheque was to be deposited, which the banking representative wrote on the back of the cheque. A teller completed the transaction.

Mr. B complained when his RESP dealer firm refused to return the funds he contributed to an RESP account. Mr. B had been making payments to a scholarship plan for several years, but due to personal circumstances requested his RESP dealer firm place a temporary stop on his required contributions.

On the suggestion of his advisor, Mr. V had purchased special “synthetic" preferred shares of a complex structured investment product offering a principal guarantee at maturity. Its returns depended on the number of future credit defaults, or in other words, the level of net losses within the underlying portfolio. 

When Mrs. K, a 51-year-old life insurance advisor, opened an investment account at Firm ABC, she signed a Know-Your-Client (KYC) form indicating 100% medium risk tolerance and an objective of 100% long-term capital gains. Soon after this, her investment advisor began to purchase higher-risk securities. While Mrs. K was privately concerned, she chose not to complain.

In 2002, Mrs. E, then 71-years-old, began investing at Firm ABC with the help of an investment advisor. As her financial knowledge was limited, she let her advisor manage her registered account. The Know-Your-Client (KYC) form she signed indicated she was a conservative investor seeking to preserve her capital.

Mr. C brought a complaint to OBSI on behalf of his mother regarding a Power of Attorney (POA) document she signed appointing her three children to act as attorneys on her behalf. Each of her children could act alone.

Mr. S was his late aunt's primary caregiver. For three years, he took care of her by taking her to doctor's appointments, hiring additional support persons, consulting lawyers, making medical decisions and attending to other needs as they arose.

Mr. W had a mortgage with his bank, and wanted to know what penalty he would be charged if he paid out his mortgage early. Mr. W was told that the penalty would be $2,300. He was also made aware that this amount could be significantly higher if five years or less were remaining on his term. At the time of this call, this second clause did not apply.