News

I am pleased to report that since assuming the role of Chair of CIAC in December of 2018, the Council has been actively involved in providing commentary and advice to the Board of OBSI.

OBSI is excited to announce the launch of our new Firm Portal. The Firm Portal provides OBSI’s 1400+ participating firms with a secure, web-based access point to a broad range of features and services including:

In early 2017, Mr. W returned from his yearly vacation. He was always diligent about checking his account activity. When he went online to review his vacation spending, he noticed three transactions for around $4,000 for cheques that he had not written.

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.

Mr. H moved his investment portfolio to a new advisor in 2008. At the time, he was 71 and was still working full-time as a physician. He was an experienced investor with an investment portfolio of approximately $1.4 million. He accepted his advisor’s recommendations to buy gold and precious metals mutual funds with DSCs.

One day in 2017, Mr. R’s computer froze. A warning appeared on the screen and a message from what appeared to be a reputable company was displayed. It warned Mr. R that a virus had infected his computer and provided him with a number to call. He called and spoke to a representative who recommended an antivirus software to correct the issues. Mr. R agreed to buy the software for $400.

An elderly woman, Ms. W, had a grandson living overseas.

Ms. T was a retired book editor, living on her own. Her government retirement benefits were supplemented by a small employment pension. Her only financial assets were approximately $30,000 invested in Government of Canada bonds.

Mr. T had recently converted his personal chequing account to a joint account with his girlfriend, subject to a right of survivorship. At the time, the account had a $15,000 balance. 

In 2014, Mr. M was gravely ill. At the time, most of his assets were held in a sizeable RRIF account, with his three sons designated as beneficiaries. His existing will provided that each of his three adult sons would receive an equal share of his estate outright, but this no longer matched his wishes because he felt that two of his sons were not capable of responsibly managing a sizeable inheritance.