2024 FSRA conference event bios

Dick Freeborough, FCPA, FCA, ICD.D

Corporate Director

Dick is a corporate director, presently serving as a director and formerly audit committee chair of Definity Financial Corporation and Director of the Actuarial Profession Oversight Board. Former board activity includes RGA Life Reinsurance Company of Canada (audit committee chair) and The Independent Order of Foresters (Chair), ResMor Trust Company, ACE INA Insurance, Triad Guaranty, and KPMG, where he was Deputy Chair. Prior to September 30, 2004, he was a partner of KPMG and leader of the firm's insurance practice. He was with KPMG for 39 years in Montreal and Toronto.

Volunteer activity has included Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of Guelph, Chair of the Board of the Oakville Hospital Foundation, Chair of the Board of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Treasurer and Director of the Mississauga Golf and Country Club. Dick also provides advisory services on governance, financial matters and management.

He and his wife Diane live in Oakville. They have three grown children and two grandchildren.

Mehrdad Rastan

Executive Vice President, Credit Union and Insurance Prudential, FSRA

Mehrdad Rastan is a passionate leader with 30 years of experience executing strategic initiatives, establishing strong partnerships, building high-performing teams and championing transformational organizational culture. He leads FSRA’s credit union and insurance prudential functions, with a focus on promoting and contributing to sector stability and maintaining public trust and confidence in the sectors.

Mehrdad has extensive experience as a senior regulator at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) and the British Columbia Financial Services Authority (BCFSA). He has built diverse regulatory and supervisory teams and implemented modern systems and frameworks to enhance the operational resilience of regulated entities. He has led the transformation of the regulatory regime for Ontario Credit Unions and Insurers that includes the creation and implementation of the integrated Risk Based Supervisory Framework (RBSF) under FSRA’s new Principles Based Regulation (PBR) regime.

He is an advocate and leader of cross-jurisdictional regulatory cooperation to promote well functioning and safe financial services systems.

Prior to his regulatory roles Mehrdad held strategic and risk management positions in investment, hedge, and pension funds, and founded and developed start-ups in construction, entertainment, and technology. Mehrdad has earned degrees in physics and finance and the Financial Risk Manager (FRM), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations, and Chartered Director (C.Dir.) designations.

Bradley Hodgins

Director, Risk Governance and Financial Stability, FSRA

Bradley Hodgins is a skilled leader with over 20 years of financial services and regulatory experience executing strategic initiatives, building collaborative teams, and change management activities. He leads the development and implementation of new FSRA Rules, Guidance and Supervisory Practices, and directs the development of ongoing enhancements to the Risk Based Supervisory Framework for Ontario credit unions.

Bradley has more than a decade of experience as a regulator at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario and the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario. He was a key contributor in the development of the Credit Union and Caisses Populaires Act, 2020 and associated regulations and the creation of FSRA’s Risk Based Supervisory Framework for credit unions. He actively seeks out opportunities for cross-jurisdictional collaboration and shares his knowledge and insights through presentations and ongoing dialogue with other regulators.

Prior to his regulatory roles, Bradley held foreign exchange, debt origination, and risk management positions at a large Canadian bank, and was a practicing structural engineer. Bradley has earned degrees in structural engineering and finance and holds the professional Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and Professional Engineers Ontario (P.Eng.) designations.

Dan Padro

Head, Policy, Core Regulatory, FSRA

Dan Padro is Head, Core Regulatory – Policy at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA). He leads the development of rules and guidance relating to regulatory and supervisory activities for FSRA’s regulated sectors.

Dan has extensive financial services policy expertise and experience in both the Ontario and federal public sectors. Throughout his career, he has held positions in financial services policy with the Ontario Ministry of Finance, the former Financial Services Commission of Ontario, the federal Department of Finance and the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

He has led and participated in a number of important initiatives impacting Ontario’s financial services sector, including previous legislative reviews of Ontario’s financial services statutes, and the recent development of new FSRA Rules for credit unions and insurance companies.

Dan holds a Master of Business Administration from York University’s Schulich School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from York University.

Samreen Hossain 

Director, Insurance Prudential Supervision, FSRA

Samreen joined FSRA in November 2022 as Director of Insurance Prudential Supervision.

She brings a 20-plus year career in financial services that is cross border and includes both public and private sector experience. Her previous roles include management consulting, reinsurance, investment banking, internal audit and 10 years of prudential supervision experience with OSFI.

Samreen holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science and a Master of Business Administration.

Victoria Lesau

Director, Policy, Credit Union, Insurance Prudential and Pensions, FSRA

Victoria Lesau brings over 12 years of financial services expertise working in a variety of sectors, including credit union, insurance, banking, securities and pension sectors.

Prior to joining FSRA, Victoria held various roles in the Ontario Ministry of Finance relating to financial sector policy and development of provincial budgets, as well as KPMG as a financial services auditor.

She has led and participated in a number of important initiatives impacting Ontario’s financial services sector, including previous legislative reviews of Ontario’s financial services statutes, as well as development of FSRA rules and guidance for credit unions and insurance companies.

Victoria holds an International Bachelor of Business Administration from York University’s Schulich School of Business and holds CPA and CA designations.

Steve Kokaliaris

Director, Approvals & Supervisory Practices, FSRA

Steve Kokaliaris has over 25 years of experience as a regulator at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario and the former Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario.

Steve’s diverse background includes monitoring and analysis, relationship management, IT systems implementation, risk assessment and policy development.

Steve has earned a Master of Business Administration and holds a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA) designation.

Antoinette Leung

Head, Financial Institutions and Mortgage Brokering Conduct, FSRA

Antoinette is Head of the Financial Institutions and Mortgage Brokering Conduct team, which is responsible for conduct supervision of credit unions, mortgage brokerages and mortgage administrators, and related policy making.

Antoinette also chairs the Credit Union Prudential Supervisors Association’s Market Conduct Working Group (CUPSA MC WG) and the Mortgage Broker Regulators’ Council of Canada (MBRCC). The CUPSA MC WG is a forum for Canadian credit union supervisors to address common conduct risks that should be addressed in a credit union’s risk management framework to ensure its resilience. MBRCC is a forum for Canadian mortgage broker regulators to cooperate and share information to identify trends and address common issues.

Prior to joining FSRA, Antoinette was a member of the senior management team at the Ontario Securities Commission. She had extensive experience in compliance, risk and policy making with respect to mutual fund dealers, investment dealers, clearing agencies, trade repositories, self-regulatory organizations and investor protection funds.

She had chaired and represented the OSC on various international and domestic regulatory committees driving harmonization in policy and application. She completed a secondment at Payments Canada in 2017-18 as Director of Financial Market Risk, where she was responsible for leading the development of the risk and settlement models for Canada’s wholesale, retail batch and real-time payment systems in collaboration with the financial sector and the Bank of Canada.

Antoinette is also a CPA, CA and a CFA charter holder.

Erica Hiemstra

Head, Insurance Conduct, FSRA

Erica is the Head of the Insurance Conduct team, which is responsible for conducting supervision of the insurance sector, and related policy making. They set practice expectations and supervise the market conduct of agents, intermediaries, and insurers in all lines of insurance in Ontario. Erica is actively involved in the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators, serving as Co-Chair of its Segregated Funds Working Group and Chair of its OmbudService Oversight Standing Committee.

Before joining FSRA in November 2020, Erica held several senior positions in the life and health insurance industry, most recently as Director, Regulatory Initiatives at Sun Life Financial, where she was responsible for developing a strategic framework for managing regulatory interpretation across Sun Life’s various business units.

Prior to Sun Life, Erica held various positions at the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, including as Assistant Vice President, Distribution. In this role, she was responsible for leading the association's strategic direction and advocacy work to optimize the policy, legislative, regulatory, and self-regulatory environment affecting the life and health insurance industry with respect to distribution and consumer matters.

Erica holds a BA from the University of Toronto.

Jordan Solway

Executive Vice President, Legal & Enforcement, FSRA

Jordan leads the Legal & Investigation function at FSRA, which includes Legal Services, Corporate Secretary, Legal for Policy & Rule-Making, Enforcement and Investigations.

He joined FSRA as part of the inaugural management team and has been a key contributor to positioning FSRA as a principles-based and outcomes-focused modern financial services regulator across the sectors FSRA regulates.

Jordan’s experience has been as a practicing litigation lawyer in private and public practice and as a financial services executive. He brings a strategic and practical lens to complex regulatory problems. He has had previous experience as a General Counsel, a Chief Risk Officer, and the head of a business area, all while working for a number of leading federally regulated financial institutions.

Jordan is passionate about governance and leadership. He received a C. Dir. designation through the Directors College where he has been an instructor for over 20 years. He also holds a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School and is a member of the Law Society of Ontario.

David Maxwell

Head, Regulation and Strategic Initiatives, FSRA

David Maxwell has 20 years of experience working with Boards of Directors in the context of effective principles- and risk-based supervisory regimes. His work spans the credit union and insurance prudential functions with a focus on driving sector-wide stability and resilience through the implementation of modern supervisory approaches that reflect the specific needs and risks of regulated financial institutions.

Before joining FSRA, David spent five years as an Associate Partner with Promontory Financial Group where his work included supporting regulators in multiple jurisdictions with the modernization of their supervisory frameworks and working with a wide range of financial institutions to promote better alignment with supervisory expectations.

David previously spent 13 years at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), most recently as Director of the Corporate Governance Division where he was responsible for the development of guidance and assessment of financial institutions in the areas of risk governance, compensation, culture and internal audit.

David graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Mathematics.

Dan Oprescu

Head, Credit Union Supervision, FSRA

Dan Oprescu heads Prudential Supervision of Ontario Credit Unions at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario.

He has 14 years' experience in regulating credit unions, banks and insurance companies.

Prior to joining FSRA in 2022, Dan held leadership positions with the BC Financial Services Authority, OSFI, the Bank of England and the UK’s Financial Services Authority.

Prior to becoming a financial services regulator, Dan worked for global banks in the City of London and taught Risk Management at Bayes Business School, London.

Elizabeth Beader

Principal Consultant, AURA Inc.

Elizabeth Beader is the principal consultant for AURA Inc., focused on governance excellence, risk and safety, quality, and accountability.

Elizabeth has over 30 years of experience as a business leader in healthcare with a demonstrated track record of client-focused care, employee engagement and goal achievement. She has served as CEO at Compass CHC and “Turnaround CEO” at Kitchener Downtown CHC.

Her experience within the industry has included successful Capital Plan Development of a $21-million LEED project, Enterprise Risk Management shared across Community Health Centres within Ontario, Co-Design of Workflow, Employee Transition, and Strategic Planning.

Elizabeth has served on several Boards, including the Alliance for Healthier Communities as a treasurer, Welcome Inn Community Centre as Chair, and New Horizons as Chair. She is an accreditation peer reviewer for the Canadian Centre for Accreditation and has participated in eight accreditation reviews.

Elizabeth was elected to the HIROC Board in 2015 and is currently the Chair of the Board. She has recently been elected as Vice Chair of Thrive Group in Hamilton, Ontario.

Elizabeth holds an undergraduate degree from McMaster University, an MBA from Athabasca University, and has various certificates in health management including from Rotman School of Business, Advanced Health Leadership and Bay Area Leadership. Elizabeth holds a Chartered Directors Designation (C.Dir, 2021) from the Directors College of the DeGroote School of Business.

Tomo Matesic

Chair, Mainstreet Credit Union

Tomo has been an active member of the credit union community since 2001, serving on the Board of Directors for Mainstreet Credit Union for over 18 years.

During his tenure, he has held key leadership roles, including Board Chair and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee. His commitment to the credit union system extends beyond governance; he also served as a board member of the Directors Forum, where he contributed to elevating the knowledge and skills of credit union leaders through education and networking events, fostering a stronger and more resilient system.

In his current roles at Entegrus Inc., Tomo serves as President of Entegrus Transmission, Vice President of Engineering & Operations, Vice President of Business Development, and Chief Conservation Officer. As a key member of Entegrus’ executive team for nearly two decades, he has developed a broad expertise in strategic planning, operations, safety, risk management, human resources, information technology, and cybersecurity. Tomo's leadership has been instrumental in driving sustainable growth and profitability at Entegrus.

Tomo is also deeply committed to building and supporting his local community. He has played an active role in economic development initiatives and has volunteered with numerous charities, including the Chatham-Kent Children’s Treatment Centre, United Way, and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. His efforts have helped secure over $10 million for charitable causes and the development of cultural and recreational facilities in the region.

Allison C. Chenier, CPA, CGA, Pro.Dir

Chair of the Board, Kawartha Credit Union

Allison Chenier is currently serving as the Chair of the Board at Kawartha Credit Union. In her prior five years on the board, she has also been Audit Committee Chair and Vice Chair. She was recently appointed to the FSRA Credit Union Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

Allison is a seasoned finance and governance professional. In more than 25 years in the financial services industry, she held progressively senior roles in a variety of capacities, including frontline sales, financial support to operations and technology teams and as an auditor. Her governance experience spans more than 15 years as an active board member, predominantly in the not-for-profit sector.

Prior to completing her CPA, CGA, Allison obtained a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto. She received her Pro.Dir certificate from Governance Solutions.

Rahul Bhardwaj, LL.B, ICD.D

President and Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Corporate Directors

As President and CEO of the Institute of Corporate Directors, Rahul Bhardwaj leads a Canadian not-for-profit association of more than 17,300 members committed to improving national outcomes by growing the board leadership and governance capacities within Canadian businesses, agencies and not-for-profits.

Mr. Bhardwaj currently serves on the boards of Waterfront Toronto, the Institute of Corporate Directors, the Canadian Foundation for Governance Research, the Leader Council at the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership at Ivey Business School, and Director Emeritus at the Rideau Hall Foundation.

His corporate governance vision has made Mr. Bhardwaj a sought-after presenter, speaker and media commentator in Canada and across the globe.

Steve Boucouvalas

Board Chair, FirstOntario Credit Union

Steve has over 25 years of expertise in the financial services industry. He has served as Managing Director for HSBC, First Vice President and Deputy Treasurer for Republic National Bank of New York, and is also on the Board of the Oakville Hospital Volunteer Association.

Since joining FirstOntario’s Board of Directors, Steve has served on all Board committees and is currently on his second term as Board Chair. Steve possesses both the Accredited Canadian Credit Union Director (ACCUD) designation, and the Institute of Corporate Directors Designation (ICD.D). Steve strongly believes in the values and principles of the co-operative movement and is an avid supporter of the credit union system.

Michal Kasprzak

Vice-Chair, Board of Directors, St. Stanislaus-St. Casimir’s Polish Parishes Credit Union Ltd.

Michal is currently the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at St. Stanislaus-St. Casimir’s Polish Parishes Credit Union Ltd. He has been a proud member of the Credit Union since age 14. A board member for the past seven years, he has served in multiple roles, including chair, vice-chair, and member of various committees. His diverse background in education, statistics, and governance, particularly in regulatory environments, has been instrumental in his work in the sector.

In his 20-year career in Higher Education, his work has spanned academic administration, strategic planning and implementation, policy development, budgeting and financial oversight, program development evaluation and assessment, and faculty and staff leadership. For the last decade, he has designed and implemented large-scale educational programs at the University of Toronto.

Michal has a strong record of leadership, having organized and facilitated programs, teams, and initiatives/projects. He has also served on the board of directors in both for-profit and non-profit sectors. Beyond his work at the credit union, he currently serves on two other boards. His research spans a wide range of topics, with a current focus on leadership and governance, change management, and policy development in regulatory environments.

Peter Stephenson

Partner, Hugessen

Peter is an organizational psychologist and a leading consultant in helping Boards increase their effectiveness. Prior to joining Hugessen, Peter managed his own firm, Meridien Consulting Services, providing advice and support to Boards, CEOs and executive teams.

He has worked with a wide variety of Boards on a broad range of issues to support them in enhancing the value they bring to organizations. From Board evaluation and individual director feedback to Board culture, composition and dynamics to CEO performance management, Peter partners with clients to foster insights that will lead to strengthened performance.

Prior to joining Hugessen in 2020, Peter developed his own consulting practice, Meridien Consulting Services. Prior to founding Meridien in 1997, Peter spent 14 years at RHR International – a leading firm of management psychologists. Peter is a faculty member in the Institute of Corporate Directors’ Directors Education Program and serves on the ICD Ontario Chapter Executive.

Peter is a trusted advisor on a broad range of leadership issues, including board and individual director effectiveness, CEO performance management, executive assessment and development and the implementation of business strategy. With his dual background in management and the behavioural sciences, Peter combines his strategic perspective on business with a firm grounding in organizational behaviour.

Peter holds a Ph.D. in Applied Psychology from the University of Toronto. He is a registered Psychologist and has his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.