In a letter to stakeholders, outgoing FSCO head Dina Palozzi welcomes her interim replacement Philip Howell, and outlines recent accomplishments at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.

Palozzi says, “A search to appoint my replacement will commence shortly. Stakeholders will be consulted as part of this recruitment process.”

In the meantime she details some of the changes at FSCO. The Pension Plans Branch and Pension Policy Unit have been brought together to form a new Pension Division, under a Deputy Superintendent, David Gordon. Tom Golfetto will head up the Pension Plans Branch. Nurez Jiwani will be seconded to the Ontario Securities Commission as director, Regulatory Coordination.

Complaint and dispute handling have been integrated into one Division. Ann Bythell heads up this new division which brings together the former Office of the Insurance Ombudsman and the Dispute Resolution Group.

Within this new division, the Arbitration Services Branch and the Mediation Services Branch have been consolidated into one branch. Barbara Dudzinski heads up the Dispute Resolution Services Branch. Malcolm Campbell leads the Ombudsman Services Branch.

FSCO’s policy development and service delivery functions have been realigned. Accountability for auto insurance policy is now under Darlene Hall and policy responsibility for mortgage brokers, credit unions, co-operatives and non-auto insurance has been moved under Grant Swanson.

CAPSA, CCIR and Joint Forum activities, along with Public Affairs and an expanded responsibility for stakeholder relations, have been consolidated into a new branch under Martin Ship.

“Finally, we have strengthened our enforcement presence by removing the Investigations Unit from any specific program area,” Palozzi says. “We believe these changes enable us to sustain our commitment to a fair, efficient and effective financial services marketplace where consumers, investors and pension plan members are protected and competition thrives.”