Venise Levesque

With over 25 years of experience, Venise is a seasoned lawyer practicing in regulatory compliance in the financial products and services sector and in securities, an area in which she has developed particular expertise, including the compliance obligations of financial sector participants and the regulation of crypto assets.

Drawing on her experience as Senior Legal Counsel within a major financial institution, as a Regulatory Advisor, and as Assistant Syndic, she has acquired an in-depth understanding of the regulatory requirements governing the financial industry. This enables her to advise and support a broad range of clients, including financial institutions and market intermediaries, in addressing their regulatory compliance obligations and challenges.

Venise also has experience in commercial law, as well as the strategic skills needed to help businesses leverage compliance requirements and ensure their operations are fully aligned with their business model. In her various legal counsel roles, she has been responsible for drafting and reviewing contracts, including partnership agreements and various types of service agreements, such as representation and supply agreements, financing arrangements, asset custody agreements, securitization-related transactions, brokerage agreements, and technology services agreements, including Software as a Service (SaaS) agreements.

With her knowledge, professional rigor, and strong communication skills, Venise serves both as a legal advisor and a business partner for her clients.

Venise served as Senior Legal Counsel for a financial institution operating in the brokerage and investment advisory sector, where she provided legal and strategic advice on risk management matters. In this role, she also acted as a key resource in handling client complaints involving the institution, its affiliates, branches, and representatives.

She also worked with a financial sector regulatory organization, where she participated in pan-Canadian committees and working groups involved in securities regulatory initiatives. In addition, she held positions within professional oversight and self-regulatory organizations (SROs), primarily in legal affairs, with responsibilities relating to disciplinary matters, investigations, and the role of Assistant Syndic. In these capacities, she also contributed to the review of legislative and regulatory proposals affecting the financial services industry.

• Assisted a bank in the drafting, review, and negotiation of commercial agreements with third-party suppliers, including financing agreements, asset custody (custodian) agreements, securitization arrangements, brokerage agreements, and technology services agreements, such as SaaS agreements.
• Prepared contractual documentation for banking clients, including documentation related to various financial products and plans.
• Provided legal advice and acted as a risk management advisor to major financial institutions, their subsidiaries, and other financial market participants.
• Participated in committees and working groups alongside Canadian regulators on pan-Canadian securities regulatory initiatives.
• Advised a start-up on regulatory compliance matters, assisted with licensing applications, and developed anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (ATF) compliance and risk assessment programs for FINTRAC purposes.
• Acted as a key resource and provided legal advice in connection with client complaints brought against a major financial institution, its subsidiaries, branches, and/or representatives.
• Managed disciplinary mandates as Assistant Syndic in several disciplinary proceedings, some of which established precedents with respect to both findings of misconduct and sanctions.
• Conducted investigations, managed investigative files, and/or rendered decisions regarding the outcome of numerous investigations.