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Appointee Biographies

Financial Services Tribunal

IAN MCSWEENEY

became a member of the Tribunal in 2015 and was appointed Tribunal Chair on September 13, 2017. Ian is a retired partner of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. At Osler, he chaired the firm’s Pension & Employee Benefits Department for many years and practiced exclusively in that area for most of his 35 plus year legal career. In 2016 Ian received the OBA Award of Excellence in Pensions & Benefits Law. Most recently, Ian served as Chair of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) prior to FSCO’s transition into the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) on June 8th, 2019. Ian is currently a member of the Headwaters Healthcare Centre Quality Committee and is a member of the Orangeville Police Services Board. He has an Honors business degree from Ivey (HBA, 1975) and obtained his law degree from The University of Western Ontario (LLB, 1979).

BERYL (BETHUNE) WHISTON

Bethune Whiston was appointed a member of the Financial Services Tribunal on December 17, 2013 and appointed Vice-Chair of the Tribunal on April 11, 2018. Ms. Whiston is a Vice-President in the Retirement Solutions and Regulatory, Governance and Legal Practices of Morneau Shepell and consults, speaks, teaches and writes internationally on pension plan issues. With over 30 years of experience, Ms. Whiston manages the company’s pension & benefits consulting legal team in Toronto and o-manages the Toronto regulatory practice, a large multi-specialty team of people working on over 180 pension plan wind-ups and restructurings in Canada. Ms. Whiston has held leadership positions on several committees and councils in the industry and coordinates publications of the Morneau Shepell Handbook of Canadian Pension and Benefits Plan. Ms. Whiston manages the company’s pension & benefits consulting legal team in Toronto and co-manages the Toronto regulatory practice, a large multi-specialty team of people working on over 180 pension plan wind-ups and restructurings in Canada. Ms. Whiston has held leadership positions on several committees and councils in the industry and coordinates publication of the Morneau Shepell Handbook of Canadian Pension and Benefit Plans. Ms. Whiston holds a B.A. from Western University and a J.D. from the University of Toronto.

PAUL FARLEY

Paul Farley has been serving as a member (part-time) since 2015 and is a sole practitioner for Paul Farley Law. He is a former Senior Counsel of Professional Conduct for CPA Ontario (formerly Institute of Chartered Accounts of Ontario). His community involvement includes serving as Board Director for Georgian Bay General Hospital.

CAROLINE HUNT

Caroline Hunt is Head of Finance Technology Transformation, Bank of Montreal. She is responsible for modernizing process and technology to support the role of Finance as a strategic partner in driving business performance. She is a member of the Chief Financial Officer’s Senior Executive Team, and the Bank’s Leadership Council on Inclusion and Diversity. Ms Hunt has been at the Bank of Montreal since 1996, in increasingly more senior roles in accounting and finance. Ms. Hunt received her LLB from the University of Western Ontario in 1980 and her Chartered Accountant designation in 1984. She was made a Fellow of the Ontario CPA Institute in 2013.

ED SKWAREK

Ed Skwarek is currently Vice President of legal and regulatory affairs at The Financial Advisors Association of Canada. Mr. Skwarek holds a B.A from York University, an LL.B. from the University of Windsor and LL.M.’s from the London School of Economics and Political Science (the LSE).

NICHOLAS SAVONA

Nicholas Savona has over 20 years of investment industry experience as an equity trader, chief compliance officer, and adjudicator, including executive roles in sales and service at various firms from traditional broker dealers, large scale and boutique—to electronic crossing networks with global reach. Nick is an advocate of intrapreneurship; his creation of a “Cross Border/Northbound” trading desk is one example of the potential to build a business within a bank-owned dealer. At the same time, Nick contributed to the regulator side of the industry as a member of IIROC’s Ontario District Hearing panel from 2010-2019. He serves as a member of IIROC’s Ontario District Council, the Montreal Exchange’s Disciplinary Committee and is a former member of the OSC’s Market Structure Advisory Committee. Nick holds an LL.M from Osgoode Hall Law School with a specialty in Securities Law.

ANTHONY FREDERICKS

Anthony Fredericks is the CEO of A.M. Fredericks Underwriting Management Limited. He is a member of the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario, the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers' Association, and the Ontario Risk and Insurance Management Society. Anthony is a 50% owner of the law firm Secure Legal Solutions

CHRISTOPHER PORTNER

Christopher Portner was a Partner at Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP for 33 years. From 2011 to 2017, he was a Commissioner of the Ontario Securities Commission, and for the last two years of his appointment, served as Lead Director of the Commission's Board of Directors. Mr. Portner's community involvement includes being Director and Chair of the Governance Committee of the Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation and former Director of the Hospital for Sick Children.

FAISAL SIDDIQI

Mohammad Faisal Siddiqi is a Managing Director, Actuary with the University Pension Plan Ontario. Previously, he worked as a Senior Consultant and Actuary with a number of major actuarial and management consulting firms. He holds a Bachelors of Mathematics in Actuarial Science and Statistics from the University of Waterloo. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and Canadian Institute of Actuaries.

JANE WAECHTER

Jane Waechter has over 25 years of litigation and financial services industry experience. She has led in-house litigation teams at two banks, has conducted public interest litigation, and is a former partner at a national law firm. Ms. Waechter has appeared as counsel before tribunals and at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. She has served on a securities industry disciplinary tribunal and has extensive experience on not-for-profit boards. She is a CPA,CA.

RUTH WAHL

Ruth Wahl is a senior partner with the Business Law Group of the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. As Chair of the Firm’s national research team, she provide opinions, advice and analysis in a broad range of cases involving court, tribunal and arbitral proceedings, financial institutions compliance, pension disputes, insolvency proceedings, debt finance, corporate M&A, and special situations. With a focus on legal theory, she advises on strategy, innovation, risk assessment and compliance and prepares arguments for disputes.

MARTIN GUEST

Martin Guest was Senior Vice President, General Counsel Canada at Manulife, a leading international financial services group, headquartered in Toronto, providing financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups, and institutions. Prior to this role, Martin was a Partner at Torys LLP, a business law firm. Previously, Martin led the legal function at Fidelity Canada; he began his legal career at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt.