Board Directors
The OSC may have a maximum of twelve Board Directors. The Board Directors include at least three and not more than eleven individuals appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, plus the full-time Chief Executive Officer. Appointments and reappointments are made in accordance with the Agencies and Appointments Directive, the Memorandum of Understanding, and the procedures of the Public Appointments Secretariat of the Government of Ontario. For more information, refer to the Ontario Securities Commission Charter of Governance.
Board Directors
- Kevan Cowan, Chair
- D. Grant Vingoe, Chief Executive Officer
- Mary Anne De Monte-Whelan
- Jennifer Fang
- David R. Lewis
- Kelley McKinnon
- Patricia Olasker
- Hari Panday
- Steven R. Wolff
- Governance and Nominating Committee
Kevan Cowan is a financial services executive with more than 30 years of experience in capital markets operational, regulatory and policy matters. He has been a key participant in the transformative changes occurring in Canadian capital markets over that time.
Mr. Cowan is the past Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Authority Implementation Organization, where he worked on behalf of nine Canadian governments leading the development of a pan-Canadian securities regulatory authority. Prior to that, Mr. Cowan was President of TSX Markets, responsible for the equities business of the TMX Group, including the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, Alpha Trading, TMX Select and related services. He is also a past President of the TSX Venture Exchange. Mr. Cowan was previously a partner in a large Canadian law firm, practicing corporate and securities law.
Mr. Cowan has served on many boards and in advisory roles, including with the Toronto Financial Services Alliance / Toronto Finance International (Chair of the Board), the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (Board member), the Ontario Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce Expert Advisory Group, the Calgary Economic Development Investment Advisory Committee, and the Ontario Securities Commission Small Business Advisory Committee.
Mr. Cowan holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto, an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School, and the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Grant Vingoe is the first dedicated Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). He previously served as both Chair and CEO of the OSC before the roles were separated with the proclamation of the Securities Commission Act, 2021 on April 29, 2022. He continues to serve as a member of the OSC’s Board of Directors.
Grant is Chair of the Policy Coordination Committee of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the umbrella organization for securities commissions in Canada, and is a member of the board of directors of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). He is also the Chair of the Joint Regulators Committee responsible for the CSA’s oversight of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments.
Grant is a senior leader and trusted adviser for regulatory agencies and, during his career as a partner in leading global law firms, for issuers and financial services clients. He has extensive cross-border expertise in securities law and deep knowledge of financial markets.
Grant holds a J.D. from Toronto’s Osgoode Hall Law School and an LL.M. from the New York University School of Law. He was admitted to the bar in Ontario in 1983 and in New York in 1985.
- Human Resources and Compensation Committee
- Risk Committee
Mary Anne De Monte-Whelan is an experienced corporate finance professional. Her background includes investment banking, equity analysis, corporate banking and risk analysis. She was an Adjunct Professor in Finance at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and also developed and delivered programs in Finance to international executives with the Executive Education programs at the Schulich School of Business, York University. She has been a speaker/lecturer on international finance and investments to diverse audiences both national and international. Ms. De Monte-Whelan is a past member of the Board of Directors of Youthlink, which also included being Chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Audit committee; on the Board of Enterprise Ireland Wireless Advisory Board; Chair of the Baby Point Heritage Foundation; and Chair and Founder of the St. Joe’s Plate, an annual fundraising event which raises money for mental health at St. Joseph’s Hospital. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Windsor and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto.
- Audit and Finance Committee
- Risk Committee
Jennifer Fang is an investment professional and business leader with more than 25 years of international experience with General Motors of Canada, JP Morgan & Chase, BMO Financial Group and PwC Canada in New York and Toronto. Ms. Fang advises public and private companies, institutional investors, and family offices as one of few seasoned business executives with deep insights, experiences and networks in both the Asia Pacific and Western markets. She has in-depth experience and knowledge of corporate finance & strategy; mergers & acquisitions; private equity; capital markets and corporate governance.
Ms. Fang was a board director for a TSX-listed mining company where she chaired its audit committee and sat on the compensation committee. She is also a past board director at Providence Healthcare Foundation, and went through the amalgamation of St. Michael’s, St. Joseph's Hospitals, and Providence Healthcare to form Unity Health Toronto, the largest Catholic Healthcare network in Canada. Ms. Fang is currently a Provincial appointee at York Region Police Services Board, and she is also a member of the Faculty Advisory Board, at Sauder Business School of University of British Columbia.
Ms. Fang is a graduate of Peking University (BA in International Economics) and has an MBA degree from the University of British Columbia majoring in finance. Jennifer is also a CFA charterholder and has the ICD.D designation.
- Audit and Finance Committee
- Human Resources and Compensation Committee
- Risk Committee
Dr. David R. Lewis worked in the wealth management industry in Canada and the United States for many years as a C-level executive, board member, and board chair at firms including Scotiabank, UBS Financial Services, UBS Bank USA, and Barclays Wealth Management.
Currently, Dr. Lewis conducts behavioural science research on enhancing financial decision making and personal financial wellbeing. Previously, he was President of the BEworks Research Institute where he conducted and published applied behavioural economics research on financial decision making. Prior to joining BEworks, he was Assistant Professor of Retail Management at the Ted Rogers School of Business, Toronto Metropolitan University. Dr. Lewis also taught at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University while completing his PhD in marketing with a focus on consumer behaviour. His doctoral research considered consumer decision making regarding investing and financial advice.
Dr. Lewis holds a BA from Western University, an MBA in Finance and Strategy from the Schulich School of Business at York University, and a PhD from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
- Governance and Nominating Committee
- Risk Committee
Over a 30+ year career, Kelley has held various leadership roles in public regulatory and the financial services and legal sectors. She was an executive at BMO Financial Group with global regulatory and compliance roles as well as Deputy General Counsel. She was Senior Deputy Commissioner at the Canadian Competition Bureau overseeing the Mergers branch and she held the dual roles of Chief Litigation Counsel and Deputy Director of Enforcement at the Ontario Securities Commission. Kelley has also been a partner at 2 major Canadian law firms. She was repeatedly recognized as a "Best Lawyer" in Canada in securities litigation and capital markets matters and was sought out for advice in cross border dispute resolution, special investigations and governance matters.
Kelley was a Fellow and Senior Fellow at Harvard in the Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) during 2020 and 2021 working on social entrepreneurship projects. She has served on a number of boards including Queen’s University Board of Trustees where she was Vice-Chair of the board and Chair of Governance and Nominating Committee. She is a member of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada board and Chair of the Neuchatel Junior College Canadian Advisory Committee.
Kelley holds a BA and LLB from Queen’s University along with Harvard Certificates for ALI and for Strategic Management of Regulatory Organizations.
- Human Resources and Compensation Committee
Patricia Olasker is a senior partner at Canadian corporate law firm Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, with recognized expertise in mergers & acquisitions, shareholder activism, corporate governance and capital markets. With over 40 years of experience in the practice of law, Ms. Olasker advises investors, issuers, acquirers, targets and boards in Canada and abroad and is a frequent commentator, lecturer and speaker on important issues and developments in securities law and policy.
Ms. Olasker is an adjunct professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School where she teaches advanced mergers and acquisitions. She was a member of the Ontario Securities Commission’s CEO Advisory Council and past chair of the OSC’s Securities Advisory Committee. Her community involvement includes serving as President of the Osgoode Hall Law School Alumni Association, Vice Chair of the Royal Ontario Museum Foundation Board, Vice Chair of Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research and the founder of AIDSbeat, the Toronto legal community’s largest charity event.
Ms. Olasker was named one of the leading female transactional lawyers in the world by IFLR1000 and was honored as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN. She is recognized in Chambers Global as a Band 1 lawyer in Corporate/M&A. She was named Toronto’s 2020 Lawyer of the Year in Mergers and Acquisitions Law by Best Lawyers, was honored with a Lexpert Zenith Award as one of Canada’s Leading Women Lawyers and was named among the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer.
Ms. Olasker holds an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School and studied in the LL.M. program at the University of California, Berkeley and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1979.
- Audit and Finance Committee
- Governance and Nominating Committee
- Risk Committee
Hari Panday is a senior corporate director and chief executive officer. He founded ICICI Bank in Canada and as the founding President & CEO led the full-service on-line bank and its securities and wealth management subsidiaries in Canada and the US. Mr. Panday has spent his carrier in financial services in a variety of line and staff roles, including restructuring of clients in diversified industries, supplemented by external, internal and IT audit experience, and for-profit and not-for-profit board directorships. He is a Fellow, CPA, CGA and certified director in the U.S. and Canada, with NACD, Washington, DC, and ICD Canada, respectively.
Mr. Panday serves as the Chair, Risk Comm. and Member, Audit & Finance Comm., Meridian Credit Union, Ontario’s largest credit union. His for-profit board directorships have included: Chairmanship of Tarion Warranty Corporation and Pro-Demnity Insurance Co. In addition, he has been ether a committee chair or a member of standing and special committees in Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.; Canadian Securities Exchange; ICICI Bank Canada; ICICI Wealth Management (Ont.); ICICI Securities (USA); and Raymond James Trust Quebec (AMF regulated) and Canada (OSFI regulated).
Mr. Panday is currently a faculty member at York University, Toronto, and teaches accountability and corporate governance in a graduate program. He has authored on Cross-border Corporate Governance in The Handbook of Board Governance, Third Edition, Wiley’s. In the not-for-profit segment he is currently the Honorary Colonel, 32 Service Battalion, Canadian Armed Forces and serves on the board of “A Seat at the Table” initiative at the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons. In 2012, he received The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
- Audit and Finance Committee
- Human Resources and Compensation Committee
Steven R. Wolff is an empowering and transformational former Chief Executive Officer with leadership experience in institutional financial services.
He was the founding CEO of Nova Scotia Pension Services Corporation, which is responsible for the investment management and administration of several of Nova Scotia’s largest public pension plans. Steve is the former CEO of CIBC Mellon, a Canadian leader in institutional asset servicing. Prior to these roles, He gained extensive global experience in investment operations, risk management and compliance and commercial lending.
He is proud to serve on the Board of Directors of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health in Whitby, Ontario and Vestcor Inc. in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Mr. Wolff holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and a Masters in Business Administration from Boston College.