Richard Austin was born and raised in Toronto.  He spent most of his professional career as a financial services lawyer and became increasingly involved in securities, and mutual fund dealer, financial planning and securities dealer matters in particular, over the last 20 years. He has held a variety of positions, including Senior Legal Counsel with the Ontario Securities Commission, Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs for Money Concepts, Deputy Head of Compliance, Wealth Management Scotiabank and Counsel at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.  He works part-time as the General Counsel of Lending Loop, a peer-to-peer fintech lending organization.

Richard was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1983 after receiving his law degree from the University of Windsor in 1981. He received a B.A. (Honours) majoring in Economics in 1978 from the University of Toronto and an MBA majoring in Finance from York University in 1984.   He has been a member of boards of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada, Scotia Securities Inc. and the Association of Canadian Compliance Professionals and the author of a number of courses and articles related to the securities industry. He currently is a member of Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada’s Hearing Panel and the Administrative Penalty Tribunal of City of Toronto.