Complaints, records, and privacy
What you'll be able to do
Document advice and disclosures, handle complaints by the process, and guard client data — records protect everyone.
- Document KYC, advice and its basis, disclosures, and instructions.
- 'If it isn't documented, it didn't happen' — records protect client and rep.
- Handle complaints through the defined process and escalation routes (e.g., OBSI).
The unglamorous backbone of compliance is documentation. Keep clear records of the KYC information, the advice given and its basis, disclosures made, and the client's instructions. Good records protect the client (a faithful account of what was agreed) and protect you (evidence that a recommendation was suitable and disclosed). 'If it isn't documented, it didn't happen' is the working assumption in any later review.
Complaints must be handled, not buried. Firms have a defined complaint-handling process, and clients have escalation routes — to the firm, then to bodies like the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) for many investment complaints, and to the relevant regulator. Acknowledge, escalate per process, and never retaliate or stonewall; a well-handled complaint can even rebuild trust.
Privacy law (in Canada, PIPEDA and provincial equivalents) governs the personal and financial data you collect: gather only what you need, protect it, use it for the purpose disclosed, and respect the client's rights over it. Mishandling client data is both a legal breach and a fast way to destroy trust.
Key points
- Document KYC, advice and its basis, disclosures, and instructions.
- 'If it isn't documented, it didn't happen' — records protect client and rep.
- Handle complaints through the defined process and escalation routes (e.g., OBSI).
- Respect privacy law (PIPEDA): collect only what's needed, protect it, use it as disclosed.
Examples
A client later disputes a recommendation. Contemporaneous notes showing their stated goals, the alternatives discussed, and the disclosure made resolve it fairly — for both sides.
Pitfalls
- Thin or after-the-fact documentation of advice and disclosure.
- Sitting on a complaint instead of following the firm's process and escalation routes.
Ask your sales coach
In a real Adept rollout this routes to your firm's compliance-approved Claude project; in the demo it opens a fresh Claude chat. Never share real client details.