As departing head Douglas Melville can attest, the OBSI needs a higher profile and more power.
Tell us about those pesky complainants
Re Canadian bank ombudsman's job is thankless – and powerless (March 16): The reduction in the number of OBSI files as of late is evidence that financial institutions prefer to settle matters with complainants rather than going through OBSI's arbitration process, suggesting that OBSI indeed is having a positive effect without having the power to enforce its recommendations. While we know how few recommendations are not accepted by financial institutions, it would be most interesting to know how many complainants, when faced with an unfavourable ruling, choose to pursue other remedies in the courts, through securities regulators, through the media or by simply bad-mouthing the financial institution that was found not to be at fault by an "independent" arbitrator.
- Richard Austin, Toronto
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Regulations aren't built in a day
Re Regulators must take their best shot at mutual fund fees (March 17): Wide-ranging regulatory amendments introduced over the last several years have delivered enormous, lasting changes within the industry.
Many firms have co-operated fully with the recent data request. The researcher's request went out only in November, unfortunately with insufficient legal assurances regarding confidentiality of the data. Industry was given just 45 business days to provide millions of data points. It took until early February for regulators and researchers to address the shortcomings in the agreement.
- Joanne De Laurentiis, president and CEO, The Investment Funds Institute of Canada
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