The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has nominated candidates for three upcoming Independent Director positions on its Board.

Malcolm Heins, Jennifer Newman and Laura Tamblyn Watts were nominated at IIROC's Board meeting on May 27. The nominees, meet the criteria of direct experience with seniors and/or vulnerable retail investors, consumers and pension plans, says the regulator. The nominations are subject to formal election at the regulator’s September 2020 annual meeting.

Heins is a lawyer and a former insurance industry executive. In 2015, he was appointed to Chair the Ontario Expert Committee to Consider Policy Alternatives for the Regulation of Financial Advisory and Financial Planning Services.

Newman is the Senior Managing Director, Real Estate Operations & Special Projects, for the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) and Watts is President and CEO of seniors' advocacy and policy group CanAge, and is a member of the OSC's Taskforce on Seniors.

"IIROC's Board is confident that the nominees demonstrate a strong commitment to risk management, investor protection and an improved investor experience," says Paul Allison, IIROC's Chairman of the Board. "Mr. Heins, Ms. Newman and Ms. Tamblyn Watts have established themselves throughout their careers and advocacy work as strong champions for effective and responsive regulation."

IIROC’s board is composed of 15 people: seven Independent Directors; five Directors from IIROC-regulated firms; two Directors from marketplaces regulated by IIROC; and IIROC's President and CEO.