The Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBSI) is one step closer to federal recognition, and has developed a standardized agreement to stop the clock on limitation periods while it examines client complaints.
OBSI says its application for approval as a dispute resolution service for banking complaints has been certified as complete by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC).
OBSI can now submit a formal letter requesting approval from the Minister of Finance. The ombudservice says that it does not have any further information about when formal approval may happen, but it says that it remains confident that it will be approved.
At the same time, OBSI also announced that it has developed a blanket tolling agreement, as one of several measures it is taking to speed up the complaints process. A tolling agreement stops the clock on the limitations period that applies to civil actions, allowing a complaint to work its way through the OBSI process without burning any of the time allowed to commence a civil suit.
Now, instead of developing a new tolling agreement for every complaint, OBSI will be implementing a blanket tolling agreement; which, it says, “will improve the efficiency of OBSI’s process while providing greater certainty to the parties as to when the clocks stops and restarts on any applicable limitation period.”
OBSI also says that it has recently developed a new brochure for consumers to explain its services; and, it has published a protocol spelling out how it deals with complaints about portfolios that include segregated funds, as it no longer investigates seg fund complaints, and refers those complaints to the Ombudservice for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI).