The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) published volume 9 of its “Mortgage Brokering – News you need” newsletter, outlining issues observed through recent sector examinations, supervisory data and industry engagement and reminding mortgage brokers and agents to ensure advice and disclosures enable consumers to make informed mortgage decisions. FSRA reported preliminary findings that borrowers are often not fully informed about the true cost of their mortgage. It also urged firms to prepare for cyber attacks by understanding their responsibilities, the information they hold and how they would respond to a breach. On transaction disclosures, FSRA flagged that some licence holders assume institutional lenders automatically qualify as a designated class of investor or lender, even though this status affects disclosure requirements and should be verified. FSRA also cautioned that some mortgage administrators may be conducting regulated activities without the required mortgage brokerage licence and reiterated the need to report suspicious completed or attempted transactions to FINTRAC to help prevent money laundering.
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario 2026-01-15
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario highlights disclosure, cyber preparedness and licensing issues in mortgage brokering sector update
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) released volume 9 of its "Mortgage Brokering – News you need" newsletter, highlighting issues like borrowers not being fully informed about mortgage costs, the need for cyber attack preparedness, and verifying institutional lender status for transaction disclosures. FSRA warned against conducting regulated activities without a mortgage brokerage licence and emphasized reporting suspicious transactions to FINTRAC to combat money laundering.