FSRA’s webinar on the Proposed Approach to Strengthening Protection of Vulnerable Consumers (February 8, 2024)

Event Facilitator:
00:03    Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's webinar, Vulnerable Consumers Consultation Webinar. Before we get started, I'd like to go over a few items so you know how to participate in today's event. We've taken a screenshot of an example of the attendee interface, and you should see something that looks like this on your own computer desktop. You will have the opportunity to submit questions to today's presenter by typing your questions into the questions pane of the control panel. You may send your questions in at any time. We will collect these and address them during the Q&A session at the end of today's presentation. If we do not have time to address all the questions, we will follow up after today's event. I would now like to introduce Stuart Wilkinson of FSRA. Stuart?

Stuart Wilkinson:
00:50    Okay, thank you very much, Kathleen. And thank you all for being here today to hear from us on this really exciting topic. My name is Stuart Wilkinson. I'm FSRA's Chief Consumer Officer, and I'm thrilled to have this opportunity today. We're going to start off with land acknowledgement. The land we are on is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinabek, the Chippewa, and the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. We acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Williams treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.

Stuart Wilkinson:
01:44    Today, we're here to talk about a consultation FSRA is currently running to seek your feedback on how to strengthen the protection of vulnerable consumers in the sectors that we regulate. We launched this consultation on January 8th by publishing a consultation paper that you can find on our website. We're inviting input from the public in response to the consultation paper, with a deadline of March 8th. I've got 30 minutes with you today. In my home, I can barely do 30 seconds without being interrupted, so please bear with me if it feels like I'm a little out of my element here. I'm going to split the 30 minutes into two halves. The first half is going to be 15 minutes of me talking at you, and the second half is going to be 15 minutes of me answering your questions. For the me talking at you part, I'm going to try to give you a quick sense of where this consultation is coming from, what we're actually proposing to do, and what we want out of you. And I'm going to actually spoil the last bit in advance. What we want out of you, we want you to leave this webinar aware of what we're doing, interested in sharing or even promoting what we're doing with your peers, and prepared to offer us feedback that we can use to get smarter on this topic.

Stuart Wilkinson:
03:00    We've got about 1,000 people registered for this webinar, which is fantastic. And given the broad nature of the topic, I think it would be appropriate for us to start with a bit of an introduction about FSRA and FSRA's Consumer Office. FSRA is the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. We're Ontario's regulator for a number of different financial services, including mortgage brokers, credit unions, pensions, insurance, and our newest edition, credentialing bodies for financial planners and financial advisers. And in case you haven't noticed yet, we really, really, really like the color teal. This consultation is being run out of FSRA's Consumer Office. The Consumer Office was created when FSRA was created back in 2019. And the Consumer Office has three parts to its purpose. The first is we amplify the voice of the consumer. The second is we build strategic foundations within FSRA. And the third is we take on wicked policy problems that cut across the different sectors that FSRA regulates.

Stuart Wilkinson:
03:59    You're hearing from me today, and you may have already heard from my colleague Jisha Sarwar on this topic. Our email addresses are going to appear on every slide from here on out, and we really encourage you to use those email addresses and reach out to us if you have any questions or want to chat about this file or anything related to the Consumer Office. So I promise there will be content on this slide in a second. Part of what the Consumer Office does at FSRA is amplify the voice of consumers. And we do that through survey research, among other tools. The survey research that we're doing, we're just starting out with. So we don't have 20 years of data points to go on, but the stuff that we've done so far has shown a pretty positive headline for the sectors that we regulate.

Stuart Wilkinson:
04:55    Generally, we see that consumers are satisfied with the services they receive from the sectors that FSRA regulates. But when you go past that positive headline and start diving into the data a little more closely, you find that consumers in Ontario that are vulnerable have consistently less confidence, less trust, and less satisfaction when engaging with the sectors that FSRA regulates. And this is the case across the board. There aren't any exceptions to this finding. So there's a gap in outcomes between vulnerable consumers and those not experiencing vulnerability. And that gap is a problem, especially since part of FSRA's mandate is to promote public confidence in the sectors that we regulate. So disparate outcomes for different parts of the population is a threat to public confidence and a threat to the social license that our regulated entities have to operate in Ontario. So the gap is a problem, and it's also our opportunity. It's an opportunity for us to do more to bridge the gap and fulfill FSRA's mandate to protect the public interest. So we see this as our call to action to bridge the gap and strengthen protection for vulnerable consumers. Now that we have that call to action, what are we going to do about it?

Stuart Wilkinson:
06:23    We've published this consultation paper as the first step in our work. And this is very much a starting point. And we want to unlock the expertise that exists in the sectors that we regulate and the public interest community to help us take a better informed approach to the issue that we've observed. I'm going to take the next few slides to talk through a few key points from the consultation paper we issued so you have a bit more context when thinking about how to respond to the consultation. The first key theme in the consultation paper is that we're not starting from scratch here. There are lots of regulators in other jurisdictions and in Ontario that have already taken steps focused on improving outcomes for vulnerable consumers or investors. And I say or investors because I'm thinking in particular of work that the Ontario Securities Commission has done in this province to enhance protection of older and vulnerable investors through both the development of educational resources - check out GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca if you have a second after this presentation - and championing policy changes like the trusted contact person concept.

Stuart Wilkinson:
07:44    In addition to what other regulators like the OSC are doing, the consultation paper cites a number of steps that FSRA has already taken to improve financial safety, fairness, and choice for all Ontarians, including vulnerable consumers. I don't want to turn this into an infomercial about all the great stuff FSRA is doing, so I'm not going to go down the rabbit hole of giving you a bunch of different examples. But what's important here is that even with all that good work, doing all that good work that we are doing to protect consumers generally, we still see an opportunity for FSRA to look for ways to take more targeted action that better protects those most vulnerable to financial mistreatment or harm. Now, if we take those steps and take more action in this area, measuring and evaluating the impact of what we do is going to be critical to us having sustained success. The survey research I mentioned earlier gives us a good starting point or baseline. And as work continues in this area, we're going to be going back to that well again and again. And we're also going to be considering additional tools that we can use to gather evidence about what's working and what isn't working to improve outcomes for vulnerable consumers. The worst-case scenario is everybody agrees that FSRA should be doing something to strengthen protection of vulnerable consumers. We do some things, and five years from now, we actually can't say if those things have helped solve the problem or not.

Stuart Wilkinson:
09:20    When we're doing that measurement and collecting data, we need to have a consistent definition of vulnerable consumers. And we also need to use that definition to create a shared understanding with stakeholders about our desired outcomes and the desired outcomes of the approach that we're taking. So we need a definition, and we also need to acknowledge that defining vulnerability is very difficult, particularly because of how people's circumstances can be subject to change sometimes very quickly. And we also need a definition that can do multiple things for us, or we need multiple definitions. We have a high-level principles-based definition in the consultation paper that we're interested in your feedback on, but you'll also know from the research that we've done that we've applied a more prescriptive and detailed framework borrowed from the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom to help us define vulnerability in the survey work that we do to segment consumers into groups of no, low, medium, or high vulnerability so we can understand their experiences or approximate the experiences of vulnerable consumers more effectively.

Stuart Wilkinson:
10:37    So those first three items I see as really enablers for FSRA to take an effective approach to strengthening protection of vulnerable consumers, and then we have to get down to the business of what should we actually be doing on the ground to make this a reality. And you can see our graphic is way too big for this slide, so we blew it up on this slide. It still might be a little mismatched, but you can see we put a lot of our FSRA teal in this, which is great, and made it look pretty sharp. But don't let how sharp the graphic looks lead you to believe that this is a final, completely baked cake, and we're entrenched in our view on the goals and activities that are going to inform our approach to strengthening protection of vulnerable consumers. It's just the opposite. This is a starting point for us, and we want to make sure that we get your feedback to shape the direction that we ultimately go in.

Stuart Wilkinson:
11:32    So what this diagram shows is us organizing our thinking around two main goals. The top half of the diagram is all about the goal of inclusive, fair treatment of vulnerable consumers. And the activities underpinning that goal focus on us working with regulated entities in our regulated sectors. So engaging in dialogues, consultations, forming committees to create forums for information sharing, and using data and evidence to inform our supervisory approach. This is all about influencing the behavior of our regulated entities to promote outcomes that are in the interests of vulnerable consumers. The bottom half of the diagram is focused on the goal of engaging and educating the actual vulnerable consumers. And the activities that underpin that are focused on reaching out to those consumers. So things like consumer education campaigns that target vulnerable consumers or building stronger connections in the public interest community to make sure that FSRA has the ability to run inclusive and comprehensive consultations and hear from the very communities that we're trying to protect. So that's a really quick run-through of what we're thinking about in relation to strengthening the protection of vulnerable consumers. I appreciate you hearing me out.

Stuart Wilkinson:
12:59    At the beginning of the presentation, I said we want you to walk away from this with some awareness of what we're doing, an inclination to share or promote what we're doing in your network, and maybe some interest in giving us some feedback before the consultation deadline of March 8th. The consultation paper has some questions in it to guide you or prompt you for your feedback. We don't mean for those to constrain your thinking in any way. So if you've got thoughts that don't align with the questions, that's perfect, and we'd love to hear them. So I'm going to close off my remarks there and open the floor to questions. And I believe they've been coming through throughout the presentation. So I'm really looking forward to being on the hot seat for the next 15 minutes.

Jisha Sarwar:
13:53    Hi, everyone. I'm Jisha Sarwar from the Consumer Office, and I'm going to take you through the question and answer session. So Stuart, the first question we have is related to the definition that we're proposing in the approach. So what do we mean by vulnerable? Can you talk a bit more about the definition that we're proposing in the approach?

Stuart Wilkinson:
14:13    Absolutely. Thank you, Jisha. So the definition we're proposing is, like I said, pretty high level and principles-based. And we're focused around the risk of harm. So the definition that we've gone with is basically a vulnerable consumer is somebody that is more at risk of financial mistreatment or harm due to their circumstances. And that can be any number of circumstances. It could be related to somebody's health or financial situation or life events. There are lots of reasons why somebody might be more at risk of harm. But we want to create a definition that acknowledges how broad the category can be and how many different factors can contribute to somebody being at greater risk of financial harm.

Jisha Sarwar:
15:13    Thank you, Stuart. On to the next question, which is a bit about some of the evidence that we've gathered on what other jurisdictions and regulators are doing with regards to protecting vulnerable consumers. So is there any international jurisdiction that is viewed as best practices around protecting vulnerable consumers? So can you talk about that a little bit and some of the actions that we've seen through our research that is being taken by other regulators in protecting vulnerable consumers?

Stuart Wilkinson:
15:43    Yeah, that's a great question. These are fantastic. So there isn't a regulator award show at the end of every year where people acknowledge what the best approach to a certain issue was. So there's no really clear answer that I can give to the question, but I'll provide, I think, two examples. One is the Ontario Securities Commission, which I mentioned before, and work that they've done particularly around seniors and older investors to reach out to them, put educational resources in place, and put some policy solutions in place to help them. So that's something that we're very cognizant of, and we're looking forward to learning from and thinking about in our own work. And the other example that we've already been drawing from is the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, which has issued pretty robust guidance to all their firms about fair treatment of vulnerable consumers in particular. We borrowed the definition of vulnerability or the framework for vulnerability that the Financial Conduct Authority established for our own survey research. So we've applied that to give us the insights around the issues facing vulnerable consumers in Ontario.

Stuart Wilkinson:
17:08    And you'll see in our consultation paper, if you take a close read of the questions that we're asking, we actually ask about the approach taken in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority because we ask about taking a broad approach. Should FSRA issue guidance that applies to all of its regulated sectors about our expectations in relation to treatment of vulnerable consumers, or should we take a different direction, maybe more tailored to the needs of particular sectors? So that's certainly an approach we're thinking of, but I really think it's important for us to take a made in Ontario, made by FSRA, made in collaboration with our regulated sectors in the public interest community approach to this issue because our situation and circumstances are very unique. The scope of what FSRA regulates is very unique. And I wouldn't want to be too lift and shifty in taking solutions from other organizations that are out ahead of us on this.

Jisha Sarwar:
18:16    Great. Thank you, Stuart. Moving on to the next question. So this one has to do more with the evaluation and measurement aspect of it that you spoke about a little bit during your presentation. Can you talk about whether how we envision doing this measurement and evaluation to ensure that the objectives are met, does it include a requirement that regulated entities will have internal processes in place to measure and quantify the impact on vulnerable consumers?

Stuart Wilkinson:
18:50    Well, the starting point for a principles-based approach is defining the issue at hand and then defining the outcomes that we want to see. And then that's what we focus on measuring. So I think we're a few steps away from thinking about requirements on regulated entities around measurement and evaluation. I think right now we're just conceptually trying to make sure that that's front and center as we develop a strategy because we don't want to get too far down the road and then realize that we don't have a good baseline or we haven't put structures in place that will allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of different initiatives that we pursue as part of this work. So I think requirements on regulated entities, would be happy to hear feedback about that in response to the consultation paper, but that's I don't think an immediate near-term direction to take.

Stuart Wilkinson:
19:53    I think there is a lot of value in collaborating with our regulated entities. They're serving the actual consumers that we're concerned about. They're likely already tracking consumer outcomes and consumer data that goes far beyond what I could even imagine sitting in my chair. So working with the different sectors and stakeholders in those sectors to learn about measurement and evaluation and see if there are opportunities for us to work together would be a really positive thing. And I think the survey research that we've done and published on our website-- and we're intending to become more and more transparent and open about the survey research that we do. That's a really important baseline for us because it is done on a cross-sectoral basis. You can look at the results for insurance or mortgage brokers or credit unions, and you can see how different types of consumers are doing in the different sectors. So I think that's a really important foundational piece of the approach to measurement and evaluation. But there's certainly more to be done. And again, there are lots of experts out there in the sectors that we regulate that we're hoping to hear from to inform our next steps.

Jisha Sarwar:
21:17    Thank you, Stuart. The next question has to do with our future steps or our next steps with regards to the proposed approach. What is our proposed outcome for this consultation paper that has been published? Are there any sort of formalized plans or strategic directions that are being anticipated at this time with any sort of targets and timelines? Can you speak a bit more about some of the future next steps?

Stuart Wilkinson:
21:47    Yeah, that's a very interesting question. The short answer would be no. There isn't a formalized plan that would require us to deliver certain things by a certain time. We thought that it was too early in our process to put that out for consultation. We felt like it was more appropriate for us to reach out to the stakeholders and public interest community early in our thinking before we had kind of poured the cement internally and let it dry. We want to engage people earlier in the process while we're mixing up the public policy cement. So we're not at the stage of articulating specific timelines and projects. You'll see in the consultation paper that we do have some ideas about the specific activities that we could pursue in service of the two goals that I spoke about: inclusive fair treatment of vulnerable consumers and engaging and educating vulnerable consumers. And I think it's important to acknowledge that FSRA has started down this track in some ways very recently.

Stuart Wilkinson:
23:03    We've been running a consumer education campaign related to life and health insurance that's meant to target vulnerable consumers. Our consumer research that I talked about earlier has had a very significant focus on understanding the different experiences of vulnerable consumers. So we're starting to move the ball forward, but in parallel with that, we really want to make sure that we're benefiting from the expertise out there amongst our stakeholders before we start putting together specific plans. And you'll see in the consultation paper, the first question is, is this something that merits the investment of further resources by FSRA? So we're at first principles here and want to make sure that we're validating with you all the problem statement and what the desired outcomes and goals are before we get into specific activities.

Jisha Sarwar:
23:58    Thanks very much, Stuart. I think we probably have time for perhaps one or two more. So this one is sort of linked to future steps. What is FSRA's expectations on how financial institutions will operationalize the identification of their vulnerable consumers? How are privacy considerations being taken into account? Yep.

Stuart Wilkinson:
24:25    I think it has to depend on the different sectors and the different services that our regulated entities provide. And we're not at the point of articulating unique regulatory expectations related to vulnerable consumers. And I think privacy considerations around the information that people are required to disclose in order to interact with our regulated entities is a really important factor that we need to look at. So this is a really good question. I think there's room for further discussion on the topic, and we really don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves setting up regulatory expectations without actually reaching a shared understanding about the problem or the desired outcomes that we want to see in this area. So one more, Jisha. What do you think?

Jisha Sarwar:
25:21    Yeah. Probably just one more. And this is an important one because we've contemplated this during the development of the approach as well. How does FSRA see this initiative as connecting to the CCIR- CISRO Guidance on the Fair Treatment of Customers? Might they merge at some point? Any thoughts on this?

Stuart Wilkinson:
25:38    It is absolutely connected. I think you'll have seen in that magic image with a lot of teal on the top and yellow on the bottom, a lot of our activities here are not centered around issuing new guidance or creating new expectations for regulated entities. And we want to make sure that we stay aligned with those overarching fair treatment of customers' expectations. So there's no appetite for creating a differential set of expectations that regulated entities have to manage around. And we want to be thinking about engaging, going into dialogues, thinking about our supervision and how it can be informed by data and evidence, and how we actually reach out to vulnerable consumers themselves and empower them with the information they need to be confident to navigate the sectors that we regulate, and reaching out to the communities and advocates that represent them so we can hear more completely from people when we engage in a consultation. So I do think that's a very important question. And one of FSRA's statutory objects is cooperating and collaborating with other regulators. And we take that very seriously and want to continue to remain in alignment with national expectations.

Stuart Wilkinson:
27:02    So thank you very much everybody for attending this webinar. It's really gratifying and exciting to have over 1,000 people registered to hear from us on this topic, and we're looking forward to getting your feedback in response to the consultation. As I've said, it's going to really pretty much guide us in our next steps in this work. Special thank you to our host, Kathleen; our events coordinator, Mary Jane Baxter, and my colleagues Sarah Wilson and Jisha Sarwar for putting me on the hot seat with the good questions from the audience. Jisha and I, our email addresses are up on the screen, so please reach out if you have any questions. And have a great rest of your day.

Slide 1
[LOGOS: FSRA. Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario and the Coat of Arms of Ontario.]

[White text appears over a blue background.]

[TEXT ON SCREEN: Strengthening Protection of Vulnerable Consumers. Consultation Webinar.]

[TEXT ON SCREEN: Date: February 8, 2024. Speaker: Stuart Wilkinson, Chief Consumer Officer, FSRA.]

Slide 2
[The attendee interface has a series of icons including a text box for user to type a question.]

Slide 3
[Stuart is seen in a small video window next to the presentation slides.]

Slide 4
[The Land Acknowledgment appears on screen.]

Slide 5
[The agenda slide appears on screen with the following bullet points. What is the Consumer Office? The Opportunity. The Proposed Approach. Our Ask and Q&A. Below the points reads: Objective: FSRA Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Build awareness for, facilitate promotion of, and generate feedback in response to FSRA's consultation on strengthening protection of vulnerable consumers.]

Slide 6
[The next slide is titled: What is the Consumer Office. It has three categories. 1. Consumer Focus, amplifying the voice of the consumer inside and outside of FSRA. 2. Strategic Foundations, building and applying foundational frameworks and processes to guide FSRA. 3. Policy Leadership, helping FSRA identify and address cross cutting opportunities and problems. Along the bottom of the slide is a photo of Stuart Wilkinson, Chief Consumer Officer [email protected] and Jisha Sarwar, Senior Policy & Technical Lead [email protected]. Stuart is a young man with short brown hair. Jisha is a young woman with dark shoulder length hair.]

Slide 7
[Text appears on the next slide: Overall, Ontarians are satisfied with the financial services sector and confident in their ability to navigate it. We have an opportunity to do more to bridge the gap. Despite high overall trust and satisfaction, the most vulnerable Ontarians are much less trusting and less satisfied. A title appears: We have an opportunity to do more to bridge the gap.]

Slide 8
[The next slide is titled: How can we strengthen protection for vulnerable consumers? It has four categories. 1. Build on significant steps already underway. 2. Prioritize measurement and evaluation 3. Establish a consistent definition. 4.Define goals and activities. An image shows a person holding an umbrella as coins rain down. A shield with a check mark appears next to the umbrella.]

Slide 9
[The category: The Build on significant steps already underway becomes bold and a new text appears: Learn from what’s already out there. FSRA has set a strong foundation.]

Slide 10
[The category: Prioritize measurement and evaluation becomes bold and a new text appears: Continue survey research. Tailor more tools to specific initiatives.]

Slide 11
[The category: Establish a consistent definition becomes bold and a new text appears: A vulnerable consumer is someone who is at higher risk of experiencing financial mistreatment, hardship, or harm, due to various factors and personal circumstances.]

Slide 12
[The category: Define goals and activities becomes bold and a diagram appears.]

Slide 13
[The diagram appears on its own slide and is now larger. At the center is a circle titled: Promote inclusive Fair Treatment and Prevent Financial Mistreatment. Engage, Educate, and Raise Awareness. Inside the circle reads: OUTCOME: Strengthened protection leading to improved outcomes for vulnerable consumers. Six categories read: Strengthen supervision. Facilitate Dialogues. Foster evidence- based policy making. Engage with vulnerable communities. Administer focused campaigns. Publish & promote findings. Four categories appear outside the circle. 1. Dialogues with Stakeholders & Regulated Entities. Facilitate dialogues with regulated entities for alignment on proposed approach Create cross-sectoral Technical Advisory Committee on vulnerable consumers. 2. Research to Strengthen Supervision & Policy Making. Foster data driven research, apply findings to supervisory/policy work. Monitor outcomes through trend analysis and complaints analysis. 3. Strengthened Outreach & Engagement. Engage directly with vulnerable communities to inform and involve. Engage globally to share and build knowledge on leading practices. 4. Improved Consumer Education Efforts. Publish & promote research. Educate through focused campaigns. Foster partnerships with other regulators.]

Slide 14
[The next slide is titled: What do we want from you? It has three categories: 1. Awareness. Understand the purpose of this consultation. 2. Promotion. Tell your network about this consultation. 3. Feedback. Share your feedback in response to the consultation.]

Slide 15
[A slide reads: Questions. Jisha’s voice is heard but she does not appear on camera.]