Complaints

Clients of First Atlantic Private Wealth who are not satisfied with a financial product or service have a right to make a complaint and to seek resolution of the problem. If you have a complaint, these are some of the steps you can take.

  1. Your complaint should first be explained to your financial advisor. The person who sold you the product or service will solve most problems quickly.
  2. Contact First Atlantic Head Office. Firms are responsible to you, the investor, for monitoring the actions of their representatives to ensure that they are in compliance with the legislation, rules and guidelines governing their activities.
  3. Some problems are easily solved by a phone call. Some matters can be resolved through the Branch Manager. The dealer's Compliance Department will investigate any complaint that you initiate in writing and respond back to you with the results of their investigation.
  4. Contact Service NL Financial Services Regulation Division. As the provincial securities regulator, they investigate complaints about mutual fund dealers and their representatives, and take enforcement action where appropriate. For more information contact:

    Financial Services Regulation Division
    Service NL
    2nd Floor West Block, Confederation Building P.O. Box 8700
    St. John's, NL A1B 4J6
    Tel: (709) 729-2602/2623
    Fax: (709) 729-3205
    Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)
    20 Queen Street West
    20th Floor
    Toronto ON, M5H 3S8
    Tel: 1-877-785-1555
    Fax: 416-593-8122
    Email: inquiries@osc.gov.on.ca
  5. Contact the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI), an organization independent of the government, and the financial services industry. OBSI provides an independent and impartial process for the investigation and resolution of complaints about the provision of financial services to clients. OBSI will investigate your complaint only if you have first exhausted your firm's internal complaint-handling processes. OBSI can make a non-binding recommendation that your firm compensate you (up to $350,000) if it determines that you have been treated unfairly, taking into account the criteria of good financial services and business practice, relevant codes of practice or conduct, industry regulation and the law. The OBSI process is free of charge and is confidential. OBSI can be contacted:
    • by telephone toll free at 1-888-451-4519; or
    • by e-mail at ombudsman @obsi.ca.
  6. Retain a lawyer to assist with the complaint.