RBC Wealth Management Financial Services Inc. (“RBC WMFS”) – Client Complaint Examination and Resolution Policy Overview

The members of RBC believe that all of us—our clients and ourselves—stand to gain by being in contact, whether it’s to answer a question, solve a problem or share a success story. While we welcome any positive comments you have, it is equally important for us to know when you have a problem so we can resolve it and retain your confidence. We use your feedback to continuously improve the quality of the products and services we provide to you and other RBC clients. In addition, it is important to us to implement policies that will treat all clients in an equitable and fair manner.

The following is an overview of the RBC WMFS complaint examination and resolution policy.

• Written client complaints can be submitted by mail, fax or e-mail directly to the RBC Wealth Management Financial Services Inc. (“RBC WMFS”) VP & Regional Sales Manager or to the attention of the RBC DS Compliance Department at 155 Wellington Street West, P.O. Box 150, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3K7. Verbal complaints will also be reviewed internally to determine any appropriate course of resolution.
• All client complaints are recorded in a client complaint register, and our Compliance department will report client complaints to the regulators as required.
• Where applicable, an acknowledgement letter, will be sent to you within 5 business days.
• We review all complaints fairly, analyzing the relevant documents we have obtained which may include the information you have provided about your complaint, your RBC WMFS record and documents, statements obtained from our representatives or insurance carriers.
• The primary contact for the complainant will be the RBC WMFS VP & Regional Sales Manager and/or the RBC DS Compliance Officer assigned. It will be their responsibility to investigate and formally respond in writing to the complainant. The RBC WMFS Chief Compliance Officer is the Designated Complaints Officer who has ultimate responsibility for managing the client complaint process. Should the complainant have any concerns with the handling of their complaint during this process, these concerns should be directed to:
  
  • Designated Complaints Officer
    c/o RBC DS Compliance
  • 155 Wellington Street West
  • P.O. Box 150, Toronto, Ontario M5V 3K7
  • Fax: 416-842-8055
  • Email: rbcdsrc@rbc.com

• If you reside outside of Quebec, we will respond to your complaint as soon as possible, however, our complaint examination process may take up to 90 calendar days depending on the complexity of the matter If the complaint is going to take longer than 90 calendar days to respond to, we will provide a status update with the revised expected response timeframe.
• If you reside in Quebec, we will respond to your complaint as soon as possible and no later than 60 calendar days, except in exceptional circumstances or circumstances beyond our control, when we will provide a response no later than 90 calendar days following receipt of your complaint.
• Contact us if you have any questions or comments regarding our response.
• If we present an offer as part of our response to your complaint, we will provide a reasonable timeline for you to assess and respond to the offer. If you reside in Quebec, once we reach an agreement with you to resolve your complaint, we will give effect to the agreement within 30 calendar days unless a different time period is agreed upon.
• For residents of Quebec, we may follow a simplified process for certain complaints. This process is for complaints that we can resolve to the client’s satisfaction within 20 calendar days. We consider a complaint to be resolved to the client’s satisfaction when they accept our proposed solution to their complaint or when the explanations we provide are sufficient to resolve the complaint. If we cannot propose a satisfactory solution or provide explanations sufficient to resolve a complaint under this process, the complaint will continue to be processed, but in accordance with the steps in the complaint process described earlier. The time that we take when trying to resolve a complaint under the simplified process does not have any effect on our obligation to provide our written final response within the required time period.

• If you reside in Quebec, you may at any time request that your complaint file be transferred to the Autorité des marchés financiers (“AMF”). We are required to send the complaint record to the AMF no later than 15 calendar days following receipt of your request. Once your file is transferred, the AMF will review it, recommend dispute resolution services, and could offer you mediation services if it deems it appropriate, with the agreement of the parties involved. Mediation is an amicable settlement process in which a mediator helps the parties reach a satisfactory agreement. This is a voluntary process intended to resolve a dispute; the AMF cannot require a party to go to mediation. Transferring your file to the AMF does not interrupt the prescriptive period for civil remedies.

The AMF may be contacted as follows:

Québec City: 418-525-0337 or 2640 boulevard Laurier, bureau 400 Québec (Québec) G1V 5C1
Montréal: 514-395-0337 or 800 rue du Square-Victoria, bureau 2200 Montréal (Québec) H3C 0B4
Toll-free telephone: 1-877-525-0337
Toll-free fax: 1-877-525-0337
Fax: 418-525-9512 or 514-873-3090
Online at https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/contact-us
E-mail: information@lautorite.qc.ca

Our Compliance department will act as the respondent to the AMF.

• You may also pursue legal action and seek independent legal counsel to advise you of your options and recourse including information regarding the applicable limitation periods in your province/territory

Upon receipt of RBC WMFS’ final response, if you are not in agreement with our resolution, you also have the option to escalate your concerns to the RBC Client Complaints Appeal Office (CCAO) to review your complaint. Information on how to contact the CCAO will be included in the final response. The CCAO’s services are free. The estimated time that the CCAO takes to review and provide a response to matters is within 90 days upon receipt of a signed client consent form; however, complex investigations may take longer to resolve. The CCAO is employed by RBC and is not an independent dispute resolution service. The use of the CCAO process is voluntary and free. The limitation periods for escalation to the AMF or to commence a civil action continue to run while the CCAO reviews your complaint. This may impact your ability to pursue a future civil claim. We advise you to consult your legal counsel accordingly.