of the Capital Markets Authority Implementation Organization and will become CEO and chief regulator of the CMRA when it is up and running. He believes Jensen’s ability to collaborate will go a long way
toward helping the new entity succeed. “The entire premise of this is collaboration between participating jurisdictions,” he says. “By its very nature, it will require that people work together.” The OSC’s board diversification effort is another area where
Jensen is able to keep pushing forward by keeping one eye on the long view in the face of resistance. In 2014, the OSC launched a “comply or explain” rule, which
requires TSX-listed companies to report the number of women on their boards and in senior executive positions, with the goal of furthering gender diversity at the top level of Canadian business. So far, the results have been less than stellar. In September
2016, the CSA in 10 participating jurisdictions published an update on this effort among publicly traded companies across Canada. The CSA’s review found that the total percentage of board
seats held by women increased to only 12% in 2016 from 11% the year before. Among 215 issuers with a market capitalization of more than $1 billion, 18% of board seats were held by women in 2016, compared with 16% in 2015. Among the 42 largest issuers with a market capitalization of more than $10 billion, the numbers were 23% and 21%, respectively. Among the sample, 55% have at least one woman on their board (up 6% from 2015), and 66 issuers have three or more women on their board. “We are making progress,” Jensen says. “But I have to say that
industry really has to step up more. The thing that really both- ered us the most was the fact that out of 521 seats that were vacated in boards on the TSX, only 15% of those board seats were filled by women.” So much for the argument that a slow turnover rate is ham-
pering gender diversity on boards. Jensen is also tired of hearing the argument that the pool of board-ready women is not large enough to provide qualified candidates. “I’m not buying that anymore,” she says. She says she thinks progress is being impeded by an “undue
focus” on collegiality that makes men on boards choose new board members from people they know. “I totally get that you don’t want to have a loose cannon at the board table,” she adds. “But there are very professional people to choose from of both genders.” One positive development she cites is an open source legal
document called the Board Diversity Policy Template put out by the Institute of Corporate Directors and law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt to help companies craſt diversification policies. She says she hopes it will be a game-changer for smaller companies that don’t have the legal resources of large corporations. Rhonda Goldberg, vice-president of regulatory affairs at IGM
Financial Inc., is one woman who has benefited from Jensen’s mentorship at the individual level. Goldberg spent 16 years at the OSC, the last five as director of investment funds and struc- tured products, where she reported to Jensen. She credits her former boss’s mentoring skills and inclusive leadership style with helping her progress in her career. “She empowers those around her to think creatively,”
Goldberg says. “Maureen certainly inspired me to do my best work and remains a strong role model for me. Her encourage- ment and support have given me the confidence to take on new roles and opportunities, both within the OSC and now in the private sector.” As if there’s not enough on her plate, Jensen is also involved
with the OSC’s effort to keep up with technology-driven innova- tions such as peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding and robo- advisers, the popular online wealth-management services where there is no mediator between members of the public and the investment products they may want to buy. “There’s a lot of technological innovation in financial services
and we’re seeing a lot of new types of businesses being launched,” she says, adding that this requires new ways of ensuring that investors are protected. To that end, the OSC has started a program called LaunchPad, which provides support
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