FSRA Announces New Board of Directors Appointments

Bryan Davies, Chair, is pleased to announce the following appointments to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) Board of Directors:

• Blair Cowper-Smith is a former Partner at McCarthy Tetrault where he held leadership roles including board membership and the leadership of professional teams including private equity. In addition, he is former Executive Vice-President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at OMERS. Mr. Cowper-Smith’s community involvement includes being Director of the Face the Future Foundation, former Director of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and former Director and Co-Founder of the Canadian Coalition for Public Private Partnerships. Mr. Cowper-Smith holds a Bachelor and Master of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School.
• Brigid Murphy has held a number of senior positions at Travelers Canada, including Vice-Chair, and President and CEO. In addition, she is former Director of General Insurance Ombudservice and former Director of the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Ms. Murphy’s community involvement has included being Chair of the Board and of the Executive and Fundraising Committees of the George Hull Centre for Children and Families, and volunteering with the United Way.
• Richard Nesbitt is CEO of Global Risk Institute in Financial Services, which is building a globally recognized research organization in management of emerging risks. He is also a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, United Kingdom, an Adjunct Professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Mind Brain Behaviour Hive at the University of Toronto. At Rotman, Mr. Nesbitt created and teaches a course entitled “How Banks Work: Management in a New Regulatory Age”. An active public speaker, he presents on the topics of risk management and securities market structure. Mr. Nesbitt co-published (with Barbara Annis) “Results at the Top,” a book on the issue of men’s responsibility for gender diversity to improve their organizations (Wiley 2017).

The new members join three founding board members appointed when FSRA was established in June 2017 - Bryan Davies, Kathy Bouey and Judith Robertson.

“We are pleased to welcome Blair, Brigid and Richard to the FSRA Board of Directors. Their unique financial services, governance and regulatory knowledge and expertise will help FSRA deliver on its mandate as a modernized, adaptive financial services regulator. Strong strategic leadership, oversight and sector experience is essential to building the regulator of the future,” said Board Chair Bryan Davies.

Biographical information on all Directors is available on the Governance section of the FSRA website.

About FSRA

FSRA is a new, independent regulatory agency created to improve consumer and pension plan beneficiary protections in Ontario. It was established on the recommendation of an independent expert advisory panel that reviewed the mandates of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), the Financial Services Tribunal (FST) and the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario (DICO).

When operational, FSRA will be an innovative, flexible, self-funded regulator capable of responding to the dynamic pace of change in marketplace, industry and consumer expectations. It will regulate many sectors that are important to Ontario consumers and pension plan beneficiaries: property and casualty insurance; life and health insurance; credit unions and caisses populaires; loan and trust companies; mortgage brokers; health service providers (related to auto insurance), and pension plan administrators.

At this time FSRA is establishing its organization and developing a transition plan to assume regulatory functions currently under the auspices of other agencies.

For more information, visit www.fsrao.ca or contact [email protected].