Meet CISRO’s new board chairman

Patrick Ballantyne, CEO of Ontario’s insurance broker regulator since 2016, is now board chairman at the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations (CISRO).

CISRO is a national forum of Canadian regulatory authorities dedicated to consistent qualifications and conduct of business standards for insurance brokers and intermediaries.

Ballantyne succeeds outgoing chairman, Eric Jacob, who was named as CISRO’s board director in 2021. Jacob was appointed executive director of enforcement at the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), Quebec’s insurance regulator, in November 2023.

Ballantyne is currently CEO of the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO). He extended his “deep appreciation” for Jacob’s leadership in a press release announcing Ballantyne’s appointment.

“I would like to thank Eric for his steady and professional leadership as CISRO chair,” Ballantyne said. “Under Eric’s leadership, CISRO has invested in important activities to strengthen the organization, while pursuing initiatives in close collaboration with the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators to enhance the fair treatment of customers.

“It is a great honour to be appointed as CISRO chair and I look forward to working together with CISRO members as we deliver on our strategic plan.”

That strategic plan includes harmonizing licensing education requirements for brokers and agents across Canada.

CISRO is also looking to “enhance collaboration and cooperation on [regulatory] matters that involve multiple jurisdictions.” For example, it plans to “explore the use and possible enhancements to the Canadian Insurance Regulators Disciplinary Actions (CIRDA) database.”

Ballantyne has more than 30 years’ of leadership experience in legal and regulatory compliance in the financial services industry. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1987.

Under Ballantyne’s leadership, RIBO adapted to the pandemic in 2020-21 by moving licensing exams online, which was done in part through a strategic partnership with Insurance Institute of Canada. Other aspects of the Ontario regulatory body also had to be adapted for online, including the disciplinary process.

In RIBO’s 2022-23 annual report, Ballantyne said the regulator was rebuilding its “spot check” program — a risk-based program allowing the regulator to do spot checks tailored to particular risks in a brokerage’s operations. And in January 2023, under Ballantyne’s watch, the regulator introduced a risk-based triage system for handling public complaints about brokerages to the regulator.

Feature image courtesy of iStock.com/