In the current business environment, the role of legal leadership requires more than simply interpreting laws. It involves turning complex challenges into opportunities and bringing clarity to decisions that balance innovation, risk, and organizational objectives. When Rebecca Ma receives a new business idea at Interac Corp., it does not start with a discussion of what cannot be accomplished. The discussion always starts with one very basic question, “What does the business want to accomplish?” As Head, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Privacy and Compliance Officer at Interac Corp, her career reflects the belief that legal professionals create the greatest value when they serve as strategic partners to the organization.

Her philosophy encompasses legal, privacy, compliance, governance, and regulatory affairs. By engaging at the outset, she ensures that diverse perspectives are considered in important decisions before potential issues become obstacles. This approach combines sound judgment with a clear understanding of business needs. It positions legal and compliance not simply as risk management functions, but as strategic partners that help the organization move forward with confidence.

Beyond Traditional Leadership

Rebecca developed her professional outlook across multiple disciplines. Her leadership experience spans privacy, compliance, governance, and regulatory affairs, extending beyond traditional legal responsibilities. These roles showed her that complex organizational decisions rarely fit within a single category.

“Being an effective lawyer or compliance professional is not simply about identifying risks,” she says. The role also requires understanding business objectives, anticipating challenges, and helping organizations achieve their goals responsibly. It requires accepting measured risk when circumstances call for it.

Effective leadership involves bringing diverse perspectives together and balancing competing priorities. It also means translating legal and regulatory requirements into practical solutions that support business objectives while promoting responsible decision-making.

Aligning Business and Regulation

At Interac, Rebecca’s responsibilities cover legal obligations, regulatory expectations, privacy requirements, compliance, and business goals. These priorities can sometimes conflict. She does not view them as competing interests. Instead, she sees each one as an important part of sound decision-making.

Her approach begins with a clear understanding of the business strategy. When the organization launches a product or pursues an innovation, she ensures that its strategic objectives are clearly defined and understood. “My role is to understand the goal, anticipate the risks, and help find a practical path forward,” she says. This enables her to provide practical guidance that supports effective execution. She also brings legal, privacy, compliance, risk, and business functions together early in the process. This helps identify and address potential issues before they become more difficult to resolve.

Building Smarter Governance

While developing and implementing regulatory and risk management policies and processes, Rebecca focuses on practical application. She designs oversight programs that support the business in executing its strategy. Her goal is not to create unnecessary oversight. It is to establish clear and effective guidance.

A strong framework creates clarity and accountability. It must also be practical enough for people to understand, adopt, and maintain over time. “I believe effective governance should create clarity without creating unnecessary complexity,” she says.

Three principles guide her work:

• Proportionality: Rebecca takes a risk-based approach and aligns controls with the risks they address. Resources are focused on areas that require the most attention. Unnecessary complexity is avoided.
• Fit: She aligns each framework with the organization’s culture, operating model, and strategic goals while building strong relationships with business leaders throughout the design process.
• Adoption: She recognizes that implementation can be more challenging than design. Even a well-developed policy can fail if people do not understand it or know how to apply it. She identifies the groups affected by each policy, listens to their concerns, adapts communication to different audiences, and creates opportunities for feedback throughout the implementation process.

Strategic Leadership Counsel

When advising senior leaders and boards, Rebecca brings a leadership perspective that connects business goals with responsible decision-making. She provides clear, actionable guidance that helps leaders navigate complex issues with confidence.

Her counsel focuses on three principles: clarity, context, and consequences. She simplifies complex matters, highlights key decisions, and helps leaders understand the opportunities, risks, and trade-offs involved.

“My goal is not to tell decision-makers what they cannot do,” she says. Instead, she helps leaders find responsible ways to achieve their objectives while understanding and managing risk.

Strong relationships are central to her leadership approach. She listens to business needs, brings different perspectives together, and ensures legal, privacy, and compliance considerations are addressed early. She also challenges assumptions and offers objective perspectives when needed. This allows her to support sound decisions while remaining a trusted strategic partner to the business.

Strengthening Trust Through Governance

Privacy and compliance continue to evolve rapidly. Rebecca believes they can no longer operate as standalone functions. They must be integrated into business strategy, technology development, risk management, and everyday decision-making.

She also encourages organizations to move beyond a compliance-driven mindset and focus on building trust. Meeting regulatory requirements remains essential. However, customers, regulators, partners, and employees also expect transparency, accountability, and responsible data management.

Adaptability is another key priority. Privacy, AI governance, and cybersecurity requirements continue to change. Organizations must respond through strong governance, continuous monitoring, and ongoing improvement. Static compliance programs cannot keep pace with a changing regulatory and technology landscape.

Navigating Complex Transformation

While leading complex, large-scale projects across global and multidisciplinary environments, Rebecca understands that alignment requires deliberate effort. It depends on a shared understanding of goals, clear governance, and consistent communication from start to finish.

She begins each initiative by ensuring that stakeholders understand the desired outcomes and how success will be measured. She brings key participants together early to identify legal, regulatory, operational, and risk considerations before they become barriers. Clear roles, responsibilities, escalation paths, and decision-making authority also help teams make timely decisions and keep projects on track.

She believes that people are at the center of successful transformation. Technical expertise, frameworks, and project plans are important, but lasting progress depends on engaging people throughout the process. This requires empathy, active listening, and genuine openness to different perspectives. When challenges arise, strong relationships and trust help maintain momentum and deliver results.

Leading with Purpose

By giving her team a clear sense of purpose, Rebecca helps legal, privacy, and compliance professionals understand why their work matters. She connects individual and team objectives to the organization’s broader goals and business strategy. This encourages colleagues to see themselves as strategic partners who contribute directly to organizational success rather than as a support function. By fostering collaboration and connecting people to a shared purpose, she creates an environment where professionals can contribute meaningfully while continuing to grow.

Redefining Legal Leadership

Looking ahead, Rebecca sees two key forces shaping legal leadership: artificial intelligence and the integration of oversight functions.

AI will change how organizations operate and how legal teams create value. Legal leaders will need to understand emerging technologies and help develop governance frameworks that support responsible innovation. These frameworks must also protect trust, accountability, and regulatory compliance.

Risks are also becoming more interconnected. Privacy, cybersecurity, and compliance can no longer operate in separate silos. Future legal leaders will need an enterprise-wide view of risk and strong collaboration with business, technology, and compliance functions. Interac has already taken steps in this direction through its integrated governance, risk, and compliance solutions.

Embracing Growth and Opportunity

Reflecting on a career that has extended beyond traditional legal responsibilities, Rebecca credits many of her greatest growth opportunities to stepping outside her comfort zone. She has led cross-functional initiatives, worked with regulators and external stakeholders, driven enterprise-wide change, and developed governance, privacy, and compliance programs. Each experience has broadened her perspective and strengthened her leadership.

Mentors have also played an important role in her professional journey. They provided guidance and encouragement, challenged her to think beyond her current role, and helped her recognize new opportunities.

For women pursuing senior legal and compliance roles, her advice is clear. Embrace opportunities that stretch your abilities. Build a broad range of skills. Seek mentors and colleagues who challenge you to grow and reach your full potential.

Advancing Industry Knowledge

Sharing her expertise beyond Interac, Rebecca has contributed to several industry events and publications. Her recent engagements include:

• Victoria International Privacy & Security Summit, March 2026: She discussed digital payments, identity management, and agentic commerce, with a focus on the impact of agentic AI on payments.
• Canadian Security Magazine, March 2026: She shared insights on building trust through transparency.
• Can-Tech Fall Conference, October 2025: She discussed Canadian data protection addenda in a session titled “Data Protection, Eh?”
• Elevate Festival, September 2025: She spoke about privacy by design and customer trust.
• Women in Payments Canada Conference, September 2025: She presented on designing smarter and safer payment systems.

Her contributions have also earned industry recognition. Women in Payments Canada shortlisted her for its Thought Leader Award in September 2025. In June 2024, PICCASO Canada shortlisted her for Outstanding Privacy Officer and recognized her team with a shortlisting for Privacy Team of the Year.

Redefining Legal Excellence

When asked what legal excellence means in a modern organization, Rebecca describes it as being a trusted strategic partner. The role involves helping the organization navigate complexity, manage uncertainty, and pursue its goals with confidence.

She believes effective legal leaders anticipate change and respond to it quickly. They understand the broader business context and turn risk into informed decisions that support growth and innovation. She applies these principles in her work and encourages her teams to carry them forward.