Canada’s privacy commissioner and police are investigating a possible security breach involving personal information of close to half a million Talvest Mutual Funds customers after a computer file was lost in transit between offices.

The backup file contained information relating to the process used to open and administer approximately 470,000 current and former Talvest client accounts and may have included client names, addresses, signatures, date of birth, bank account numbers, beneficiary information and / or Social Insurance Numbers.

Talvest said it has retained original copies of their files on its secure Web site.

While Talvest has no evidence to suggest this backup file has been inappropriately accessed, the manager of Talvest Mutual Funds, CIBC Asset Management, has taken precautionary measures to protect its clients.

These actions include:

  • Notifying all affected clients by letter.
  • Compensating any affected Talvest clients for monetary loss that arises directly from unauthorized access of personal information contained on this file.
  • Providing affected Talvest clients the opportunity to enrol in a credit monitoring service at no cost. This service will provide added security on client credit files at major Credit Reporting agencies.
  • Establishing a dedicated call centre and website to deal with any affected Talvest client inquiries.
  • Advising affected Talvest clients to regularly review activity on all their financial accounts and report any unauthorized activity immediately to their financial institution.
  • Working with the police to investigate this incident and retrieve this backup file.



“We are in the process of contacting affected Talvest clients by letter to advise them of this issue and to detail the steps we are taking to safeguard their information,” said Steve Geist, [resident of CIBC Asset Management.

“Although, we have no evidence that the information contained in the backup file has been accessed in any way, we are acting out of an abundance of caution and want to assure our clients that we are taking all steps possible to address this matter. Any issue that causes disruption to our clients is of great concern to us and we regret the inconvenience this may cause our Talvest Mutual Fund Clients.”

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, Canada said she is launching an investigation into a breach.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) was informed by CIBC of the disappearance of the hard drive.

While the police are investigating, the OPC has been working with the bank to establish the facts and the sequence of events, to assess the privacy risks and to provide advice on how to deal with the situation and notify the individuals affected.

“My office is committed to carrying out a thorough investigation into this matter and to ensuring that preventive and corrective measures are put in place so that this does not reoccur,” Stoddart said.