Speaker bios
Kevin Cohen
Founder and National Leader
AUM Law
Kevin Cohen founded AUM Law in 2009 and Belco Private Capital in 2011 to provide asset managers and issuers with high quality securities law advice and regulatory support needed as a result of the coming into force of National Instrument 31-103. He used his prior experience in-house at a prominent asset manager firm and his earlier private law firm practice to develop AUM Law’s and Belco’s service offerings.
AUM Law was acquired by BLG LLP in 2021, and Kevin was appointed as AUM Law’s National Leader. Today, Kevin focuses on outreach to clients to ensure their compliance needs are met, as well as meeting with prospective clients and industry participants to keep in touch with industry developments and explain AUM Law’s approach. Kevin is integral in working within BLG to ensure AUM Law provides innovative and tech-savvy services to clients and guides AUM Law in providing forward thinking efficient legal services to clients.
Chris Crowe
Founder and CEO
CMBYND
Chris Crowe is the founder and CEO of CMBYND (pronounced "combined"), a firm dedicated to inspiring and advising on risk and compliance innovation. With a mission to deliver industry-leading expertise, CMBYND offers pragmatic, cost-effective solutions that empower organizations to meet their risk management and compliance goals with confidence.
With over 20 years of experience advising financial institutions across Europe, Canada, APAC, and the US, Chris brings expert guidance in transformation, financial regulation, and compliance program design. He provides clear insights into risk management, operational controls, and cost reduction strategies. As a strategic, hands-on leader, Chris has successfully led transformational initiatives across capital markets, wealth management, retail banking, and global operations, delivering cutting-edge solutions that drive lasting impact.
Nadiatou Fagbemi
Senior Manager, Mortgage Brokering Conduct, Market Conduct
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
Nadiatou Fagbemi is a Senior Manager on the Mortgage Brokering Conduct team at FSRA. She joined the regulator and its predecessor over 10 years ago. Prior to this, she worked in the financial services sector, specifically in mortgage brokering.
Nadia has extensive experience in residential and commercial mortgage products, Mortgage Investment Entities, fintech, Syndicated Mortgage Investments (qualified and non-qualified), mortgage administration and handling of trust funds.
With her expert team, she focuses on consumer protection and strengthening confidence in the mortgage brokering sector through fostering strong relationships with stakeholders.
She is a certified fraud examiner.
Jennie Hodgson
Senior Manager, Mortgage Brokering Conduct, Market Conduct
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
Jennie Hodgson is Senior Manager of Mortgage Brokering Conduct within FSRA’s Market Conduct division. After starting her mortgage industry career in 2001 in the mortgage servicing division of a big-5 bank, she then gained experience with roles at a private commercial lender, as an education consultant, and leading the education department at a national association.
Jennie began her role at FSRA in 2019, managing a team of compliance examiners and supporting the development of regulatory guidance.
With a BA in Adult Education from Brock University, Jennie is passionate about education and draws on these skills for her work coaching brokerages and administrators on how to achieve regulatory compliance, and promoting the fair treatment of consumers.
Antoinette Leung
Head, Financial Institutions and Mortgage Brokerage Conduct, Market Conduct
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
Antoinette Leung is the 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. She also has oversight over FSRA’s Complaints and Risk Assessment Unit, which is responsible for handling public complaints.
She chairs the Mortgage Broker Regulators’ Council of Canada (MBRCC) and the Market Conduct Working Group of the Credit Union Prudential Supervisors Association (CUPSA).
Prior to joining FSRA, Antoinette was a member of the senior management team at the Ontario Securities Commission. She has extensive experience in compliance, risk and policy making with respect to various financial sectors, such as dealers, portfolio managers and clearing agencies. She chaired and represented the OSC on various international and domestic regulatory committees.
She completed a secondment at Payments Canada in 2017-2018 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.
Huston Loke
Executive Vice President, Market Conduct
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
Huston Loke is Executive Vice President of Market Conduct at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). FSRA supervises insurance companies, mortgage brokers, credit unions, pensions, and other non-securities areas of the financial services sector.
He previously served as Director of Corporate Finance at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), where he oversaw securities-related matters for all Ontario-based public companies. In his role, he had statutory authority to receipt prospectuses and grant certain forms of exemptive relief.
Prior to his role at the OSC, Huston advised the CEO of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Prior to his role at CMHC, Huston was President of the credit rating agency DBRS, which covered over 1,000 fixed income issuers in Canada, the US, and Europe.
At various times over his career, he has supervised teams of fixed-income analysts in Toronto, New York, Chicago, London, and Paris. He was also formerly a member of the nonbank financial intermediation committee of the Financial Stability Board, holds a Master of Business Administration (Finance and Accounting) and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Huston is currently Chair of the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR), a national organization that includes all the provincial and territorial regulators, along with the Federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. Together, they work to enhance fair treatment of consumers while ensuring an efficient and effective regulatory framework for the insurance sector.
Yovanka McBean
Director, Licensing, Market Conduct
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
Yovanka McBean has over two decades of experience in professional regulation. She is currently acting Director of Licensing at FSRA, and previously managed a team of Regulatory Discipline Officers.
She has extensive enforcement experience, having appeared before the Licence Appeal Tribunal as well as acting as Provincial Prosecutor on behalf of a sector regulator.
Jelena Pejic
Head, Licensing and Risk Assessment, Market Conduct
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
Jelena Pejic is the Head of Licensing and Risk Assessment at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA). In this role, she oversees FSRA’s licensing function across six regulated sectors, including the mortgage brokering sector, and oversees FSRA's credentialing oversight function, which includes the accreditation of mortgage and insurance course providers and the approval of credentialing bodies for financial planners and advisors. Jelena is also leading FSRA's digital transformation of licensing systems and processes, ensuring that FSRA remains at the forefront of regulatory effectiveness and efficiency. Her leadership in this area is driving significant improvements in how licensing services are managed and delivered.
Jelena currently serves as the co-chair of the Mortgage Broker Regulators’ Council of Canada's (MBRCC) Education Committee, where she collaborates with Canadian regulators to harmonize and improve educational standards and practices within the mortgage brokering industry. She also chairs the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations' (CISRO) Life Licence Qualification Program Governance Committee, overseeing the governance and standards of life insurance licensing education programs across Canada.
Since joining FSRA and its predecessor in 2016, Jelena has held progressive roles in compliance, licensing, and complaints review. Prior to her tenure at FSRA, she worked in fraud risk management at a major Canadian bank.
Jackie Sanz
Managing Director Canada Lead for Risk and Compliance Solution
Protiviti
Jackie Sanz is Managing Director of Canada’s Risk and Compliance practice at Protiviti. Over her 32-year career, Jackie has been recognized as a business-centric leader with significant achievement in the development and implementation of effective risk-based integrated compliance and audit frameworks and programs across multiple jurisdictions.
As a strategic thinker, Jackie provides risk-disciplined advice, sustaining focus on business objectives and priorities and navigates the complexity of detail, leveraging technology, to focus resources on high risk, high impact compliance activities, ensuring there is balance between regulatory expectations, risk tolerance, business priorities, financial performance, client needs and shareholder value.
Jackie brings over 20 years of hands-on experience in the management and oversight of compliance, audit and governance activities of a multinational financial institution covering all aspects of financial services (consumer lending, deposit-taking, brokerage, portfolio management, structured products, investment funds, etc.).
Donna Spagnolo
Partner
Borden Ladner Gervais (BLG) LLP
Donna Spagnolo is a partner in the Toronto office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Donna practices corporate law, especially as it relates to the highly regulated financial services industry. She provides advice on day-to-day activities as well as extraordinary situations, with a focus on regulatory compliance, market conduct, governance issues and transactional matters.
Gina Stephens
Director, Mortgage Brokering Conduct, Market Conduct
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
Gina Stephens is a financial services policy leader with 15+ years of experience in strategic stakeholder management and the design and implementation of regulatory regimes for the mortgage broker and credit union sectors.
As Director of Mortgage Broker Conduct at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), Gina is responsible for the design and delivery of mortgage broker sector conduct supervision programs, services, and initiatives within FSRA’s Market Conduct Division.
Prior to joining FSRA, Gina worked at the Ontario Ministry of Finance (MOF) in the Financial Services Policy Division, where she supported the legislative and regulatory policy work that led to the implementation of the Mortgage Brokerages, Lenders and Administrators Act (MBLAA).
Cheryl Szutu
Senior Manager, Mortgage Brokering Conduct, Market Conduct
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
Cheryl Szutu is a Senior Manager of Mortgage Brokering Conduct within the Market Conduct team at FSRA. With a diverse background in banking, finance, and underwriting, she brings a wealth of experience to her role. Her career spans notable institutions in the Canadian financial sector, where she honed her skills in banking and finance. Cheryl further expanded her expertise as a compliance consultant, gaining valuable insights into risk assessment and financial product management.
With this blend of practical experience and specialized certifications, Cheryl is well-equipped to navigate the complex regulatory environment of mortgage brokering in Ontario. Her role at FSRA allows her to leverage her diverse background to strengthen confidence in the sector and promote fair treatment of consumers.