Submitted by nsscadmin on
This year NSSC has received complaints from investors who are having problems or issues with their adviser or investment firm. Often these complaints are either sent to the wrong person at NSSC or lack sufficient information required to truly understand what has occurred and the resolution the investor is looking for. To assist investors who have a complaint or issue with their adviser or firm, this post outlines the recommended course of action.
Before we get started, please note that this process is only for complaints related to a registered adviser or investment firm that deals in securities. Complaints regarding regular banking, mortgages, credit, debt, or other financial matters not related to securities are not handled by NSSC. Complaints related to potential investment fraud should be directed to NSSC enforcement. We outlined fraud reporting in a previous blog post.
Before contacting NSSC with your complaint, we recommend first speaking with your adviser or investment firm. This could include speaking directly to your individual adviser or contacting the firm’s compliance department. If you do not receive a satisfactory response after talking to your adviser or the firm’s compliance department, you should then contact NSSC.
Registration and compliance at NSSC can be reached by email at NSSC-capital-markets@novascotia.ca or through our general inquiries email NSSCinquiries@novascotia.ca.
In this email, we recommend you include the following:
Who the complaint is regarding, the individual and/or firm.
What is your complaint, in as much detail as possible? (what happened and when)
Who have you dealt with to try to resolve the complaint?
What result are you looking for?
When preparing your complaint, it is helpful to have as much information and documentation as possible. You may be asked for emails and other communications regarding the matter during our review of your complaint.
Do not send any documents with your initial complaint email. Please outline what documentation you have when making the complaint, but do not send documents until someone at NSSC asks for them. Sending unnecessary documents may slow down the initial investigation and raise privacy issues.
Other documents that may be useful when reviewing the complaint can include the following
Account statements
Contracts and terms of service or conditions
Any other documents related to the complaint
NSSC staff will acknowledge receipt of your complaint, and then contact you about next steps once they have reviewed it.