OSC and CIRO report highlights sales culture concerns at Canada’s largest bank-affiliated dealers

TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) have published their report; Sales Culture Concerns at Five of Canada’s Bank-Affiliated Dealers. The report presents survey results from nearly 3,000 mutual fund dealing representatives from five of Canada’s largest bank affiliated dealers. The survey focused on the sales environment, sales pressure, range of products, and knowledge of representatives. 

The responses from representatives showed some positive perceptions – including that they felt the range of products was satisfactory for their clients; even if many thought a broader range would also be beneficial. However, the results did identify areas of concern for the OSC and CIRO.

This includes one in four representatives across banks stating that clients have been recommended products or services that are not in their interests at least “sometimes”. Forty percent of representatives believe scorecards (a means of tracking performance against target measures, including sales targets and/or activity-based targets) influence product and service recommendations to clients. One in three representatives also reported that clients have been provided with incorrect information about products and services being recommended to them. The OSC and CIRO believe the sales environment, compensation, incentivization, and performance tracking may be contributing factors to these results.

“While it’s clear many bank representatives are prioritizing quality advice, it is also clear that sales pressures and incentivization may be driving concerning behaviours,” said Grant Vingoe, CEO of the OSC. “The focus of the bank representatives should be the best interests of their customers and clients – not feeling heightened pressures to meet sales targets. We look forward to continuing our work to address these concerns.”

“Our mission is to promote healthy capital markets by regulating fairly and effectively so that investors are protected and confident investing in their futures. Through continued transparency and cooperation, we can achieve this and ensure that Canadians feel at ease when they are planning for their financial futures,” said Andrew J. Kriegler, President and CEO of CIRO. “The results from the survey identified areas where more work is needed and we appreciate the cooperation and willingness of the banks to participate and share our ambition to do what’s right for investors.”

The next phase of this work will include obtaining an understanding of the sales practices in place and also to understand the controls the dealers have in place to address any material conflicts of interest arising from sales practices. 

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at https://www.osc.ca.

CIRO is the national self-regulatory organization that oversees all investment dealers, mutual fund dealers and trading activity on Canada's debt and equity marketplaces. CIRO is committed to the protection of investors, providing efficient and consistent regulation, and building Canadians' trust in financial regulation and the people managing their investments. For more information, visit www.ciro.ca.

Notes to Editors:

1. The OSC and CIRO announced the coordinated review into bank branch sales practices in November 2024.  The review followed public reporting of potential investor harm due to high pressures sales environments at the largest five Canadian bank affiliated dealers.
2. The initial phase of the coordinated review involved sending a voluntary survey to mutual fund dealing representatives working in a bank branch for one of the mutual fund dealers affiliated with five of Canada’s banks. Approximately 3,000 mutual fund dealing representatives completed the survey, carried out between November 26, 2024 and December 13, 2024. This large sample demonstrates statistical alignment with the broader population of representatives on key characteristics, providing a strong basis for generalizing the findings to the representatives at these dealers across Ontario.

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