Compliance
Complaint Handling
At Progressive Financial Strategy, our clients’ interests are first and foremost. It is with this guiding principal that we undertake to address any concerns or complaint that you may have. We have a complaint handling procedures in place to address both verbal and written complaints from our clients and others who do business with us and our Approved Persons.
Should we receive a complaint from you the client, we will conduct an extensive review of the matter prior to our reaching a decision
Following is a summary of those procedures, which we provide to new clients and clients who have filed a complaint:
Please contact your advisor about your concern. Most problems can be resolved quickly and easily by speaking with your advisor.
If you continue to remain dissatisfied and wish to pursue your complaint, you may make the complaint to our head office by contacting the Chief Compliance Officer. All complaints are forwarded to qualified compliance or supervisory personnel to be handled. We encourage clients to make their complaint in writing where possible. Where clients have difficulty putting their complaint in writing, they should advise us so that we can provide assistance. For confidentiality reasons, we will only deal with the client or another individual who has the client’s express written authorization to deal with us.
Complaints should be sent to:
Progressive Financial Strategy
320 Matheson Blvd W, Suite 215, Mississauga,
ON L5R 3R1, Canada
Attention: Chief Compliance Officer
Tel # 905-212-9149
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint by written confirmation within 5 business days of our being notified.
Next we engage in dialogue with you the client to better understand your concerns.
After that we engage in dialogue with our employees that are subject to the matter.
We review all complaints fairly, taking into account all relevant documents and statements obtained from the client, from our records, from our licensed representatives, from other staff members and any other relevant source.
Once our review is complete we provide clients with our response, which will be in writing if the complaint was made in writing. Our response may be an offer to resolve your complaint, a denial of the complaint with reasons or another appropriate response. Where the complaint relates to certain serious allegations, our initial acknowledgement will include copies of this summary and the CCIF. Our response will summarize your complaint, our findings and will contain a reminder about your options with the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments.
We generally provide you with a substantive response of our findings and decision in the matter within ninety days of initial receipt of your complaint. In the event that the investigation and analysis of the allegations raised in the complaint is taking longer than 6 months (for example where PFS has requested additional information which was not forthcoming within a reasonable time period and/or where there is an extensive amount of fact-finding or complex legal or other analysis), PFSs’ Compliance Department will communicate with the client to keep him or her apprised of the status of the investigation with an explanation for the delay and a best estimate of the time required for the completion of the substantive response.
If we offer you a financial settlement, we may ask you to sign a release and waiver for legal reasons.
Clients may contact us at any time to provide further information or to inquire as to the status of their complaint, by contacting the individual handling their complaint or by contacting the Chief Compliance Officer.
We also provide new clients and clients who complain with separate information called the Client Complaint Information Form (“CCIF”) that provides general information about their options for making a complaint.
CLIENT COMPLAINT INFORMATION FORM
Clients of a mutual fund dealer who are not satisfied with a financial product or service have a right to make a complaint and to seek resolution of the problem. MFDA Member dealers have a responsibility to their clients to ensure that all complaints are dealt with fairly and promptly. If you have a complaint, these are some of the steps you can take:
Contact your mutual fund dealer. Member firms are responsible to you, the investor, for monitoring the actions of their representatives to ensure that they are in compliance with by-laws, rules and policies governing their activities. The firm will investigate any complaint that you initiate and respond back to you with the results of their investigation within the time period expected of a Member acting diligently in the circumstances, in most cases within three months of receipt of the complaint. It is helpful if your complaint is in writing.
Contact the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (“MFDA”), which is the self-regulatory organization in Canada to which your mutual fund dealer belongs. The MFDA investigates complaints about mutual fund dealers and their representatives, and takes enforcement action where appropriate. You may make a complaint to the MFDA at any time, whether or not you have complained to your mutual fund dealer. The MFDA can be contacted:
By completing the on-line complaint form at www.mfda.ca
By telephone in Toronto at (416) 361-6332, or toll free at 1-888-466-6332
By e-mail at complaints@mfda.ca1
In writing by mail to 121 King Street West, Suite 1000, Toronto, ON M5H 3T9 or by fax at (416) 361-9073
COMPENSATION:
The MFDA does not order compensation or restitution to clients of Members. The MFDA exists to regulate the operations, standards of practice and business conduct of its Members and their representatives with a mandate to enhance investor protection and strengthen public confidence in the Canadian mutual fund industry. If you are seeking compensation, you may consider the following:
Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (“OBSI”): After the dealer’s Compliance Department has responded to your complaint, you may contact OBSI. You may also contact OBSI if the dealer’s Compliance Department has not responded within 90 days of the date you complained. OBSI provides an independent and impartial process for the investigation and resolution of complaints about the provision of financial services to clients. 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 in Toronto at (416) 287-2877, or toll free at 1-888-451-4519
By e-mail at ombudsman@obsi.ca
Legal Assistance: You may consider retaining a lawyer to assist with the complaint. You should be aware that there are legal time limits for taking civil action. A lawyer can advise you of your options and recourses. Once the applicable limitation period expires, you may lose rights to pursue some claims.
You may wish to consider issues of internet security when sending sensitive information by standard e-mail.
Manitoba, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan: Securities regulatory authorities in these provinces have the power to, in appropriate cases, order that a person or company that has contravened securities laws in their province pay compensation to a claimant. The claimant is then able to enforce such an order as if it were a judgment of the superior court in that province. For more information, please visit:
Manitoba: www.msc.gov.mb.ca
New Brunswick: www.nbsc-cvmnb.ca
Saskatchewan: www.sfsc.gov.sk.ca
Québec: The Autorité des marchés financiers (“AMF”) pays indemnities to victims of fraud, fraudulent tactics or embezzlement where those responsible are individuals or firms authorized to practice under the legislation governing the provision of financial services in Quebec. It also rules on the eligibility of claims and sets the amount of the indemnities to be paid to victims. Consumers can thus be compensated to a maximum of $200,000 per claim, through funds accumulated in a financial services compensation fund. For more information, please visit www.lautorite.qc.ca
PRIVACY STATEMENT
Progressive Financial Strategy (Canada) and all its operating companies – Progressive Financial Strategy Capital Group Corp. and Progressive Financial Strategy Insurance Agency Ltd. – collects, uses and discloses clients personal information in the course of its activities in compliance with the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). As required by the legislation, Progressive Financial Strategy (Canada) has put in place policies and procedures to effectively safeguard any confidential information that we have on file or collect.
This personal information, not publicly published about the clients, may include but is not limited to:
Any income tax information;
Account statements from other firms, including banks, trust companies or fund companies;
Pension plan information;
Legal documents including wills, trusts, and powers of attorney; and
Copies of identification including photo identification and banking information.
We may use and disclose this information in order to:
Communicate with the clients in a timely and efficient manner;
Assess clients application for investment, insurance and other services available to them by our firm;
Assess clients financial situation and contact them with any other suitable products that they is authorized to sell;
Evaluate claims and underwriting risks when required;
Detect and prevent fraud;
Analyze business results; and
Act as required or authorized by law.
The clients have the following rights concerning their privacy:
They have the right to know why an organization collects, uses or discloses their personal information;
They have the right to expect an organization to handle their information reasonably and to not use it for any other purpose other than the one to which the clients consented;
They have the right to know who in an organization is responsible for protecting their information;
They have the right to expect an organization to protect their information from unauthorized disclosure;
They have the right to inspect the information an organization holds about them and make sure it is accurate, complete and current;
They have the right to confidentially complain to an organization about how it handles their information and may escalate their complaint to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if need be; and
They have the right to remove their consent at any time by contacting their advisor in writing.
Progressive Financial Strategy and its operating companies will NOT:
Sell clients information to anyone; and
Share clients information with organizations outside of our relationship that would use it to contact the clients about their own products or services.