The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) published its Market Conducts Activities Report for the 2021 – 2022 fiscal year on March 8, highlighting the work the regulator undertakes to ensure regulatory compliance in the administration of insurance, mortgage brokering and health service provider licensing.
Across all sectors it regulates, including both property and casualty and life and health insurance, mortgage brokering, loan and trust companies, credit unions, caisses populaires and pension plans in Ontario, the report discusses the 1,692 actions taken during the year, including the escalation efforts undertaken by those reviewing license applications and compliance staff, alike.
The regulator says its key objectives for the year included increasing overall compliance awareness and culture among licensees in all sectors, in addition to ensuring that consumer protection exists when and where licensees are deficient.
As of March 31, 2022, FSRA regulated 67,021 licensed insurance agents. Regulatory actions specifically related to insurance included just 17 cases where licensing conditions were applied, eight letters of caution were issued, six summary or administrative monetary penalties were applied and two licenses were suspended. The regulator says the main themes of non-compliance addressed by disciplinary officers are the suitability to hold a license and insufficient continuing education credits.
Licensing specialists who review the more than 7.300 insurance agent licenses and renewal applications during the year escalated a total of 188 files in both the insurance and mortgage brokering sectors to disciplinary officers. The regulator’s compliance unit, meanwhile, also escalated 57 files to disciplinary officers with a recommendation for action. Common themes for these escalations were instances of bankruptcy or consumer proposal, the discovery of enforcement action being undertaken by another regulator and the discovery of a criminal record. Compliance also issued 539 letters of warning to insurance agent license applicants. “Most often, the letters were issued to life insurance agents who failed to complete their continuing education hours within the required time period.”
