Following on the heels of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), which released its service standards earlier this month, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) is following suit, publishing their own service standards and how the regulator measured up, this time in the third quarter of 2022.
Making the February report public in late March 2023, FSRA highlights a 12 per cent jump in the instances where the regulator met or exceeded its service targets – FSRA met or exceeded its service targets nearly 97 per cent of the time in the third quarter.
“These quarterly service standard reports demonstrate how FSRA is performing its day-to-day activities, specifically measuring its responsiveness, effectiveness, efficiency and accountability,” the regulator states. “FSRA will continue to monitor its performance on a regular basis.”
The Service Standards Scorecard Q3 FY 2022-2023 discusses 19 service standards across five key areas, including auto, credit unions, pensions, market conduct and public affairs. The standards measure operational and regulatory activities including licence renewals, regulatory applications, complaints resolution and annual information returns.
“Service standards are essential to good public service. They reflect a pursuit of a measurable level of performance, which stakeholders can expect under normal conditions,” the report adds.
In auto insurance products, the regulator exceeded its standard performance target in every instance, reviewing every filing and making every decision within the prescribed 25-, 30- and 45-day timelines. The number of market conduct complaints actioned exceeded standard performance and most stretch targets. Life insurance complaints were actioned within 120 days 92.5 per cent of the time, and within 270 days 97.5 per cent of the time. (Standard targets in these categories are 80 per cent and 95 per cent, respectively.)
Similarly, other insurance complaints containing all available information were actioned for a range of possible outcomes, including the issuance of warning letters, escalation to other areas of FSRA or to third-party dispute organizations, or closure with no action taken within 120 days 95.5 per cent of the time and within 270 days 100 per cent of the time. Only service related to pensions fell short of stretch targets but still exceeded standard performance targets. Inquiries related to pensions were responded to within 45 business days 92.5 per cent of the time, defined contribution plan wind-up applications were decided on within 90 days 100 per cent of the time, and defined benefit plan wind-up applications were reviewed within 120 business days 90.9 per cent of the time.
