19 april 2022, 12:06

The Bank of Russia and the Ombudsman for financial services consumers support Service (OFSC) enter into an agreement on information exchange

The Bank of Russia and the Ombudsman for financial services consumers support Service (OFSC) signed an agreement on information exchange. The document was signed by First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Vladimir Chistyukhin, on behalf of the Regulator, and head of the OFSC Olga Kraynova, on behalf of the Service.

The subject of the agreement is interaction for the purpose of information exchange between the parties, which will make it possible to have complex information on the issues of protecting the rights of consumers of financial services, to take additional steps to improve the out-of-court dispute resolution procedure in the financial market, eliminate divergent practices between the Bank of Russia and the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Head of the OFSC Olga Kraynova said: “From 2019 to 2021, the Financial Ombudsman Service received over 400,000 appeals from consumers. This allows us to obtain unique information about the activities of financial institutions that can be used not only to make decisions on appeals, but also to influence the business processes of financial institutions related to the provision of financial services to consumers. The Bank of Russia as a mega-regulator, receiving relevant data from us, will be able to take it into account in its work to protect the rights of consumers of financial services. At the same time, the Financial Ombudsman Service will use the information received from the Bank of Russia to improve the efficiency of its business processes and form uniform approaches in protecting consumer rights”.

The parties agreed to exchange information on appeals from consumers of financial services against financial institutions, on unacceptable practices revealed in the operations of financial institutions, and other information.

As for statistics, in accordance with the document and on a quarterly basis, the Service will send to the Bank of Russia the generalized information about consumer appeals and related FOS decisions with regard to sectors of the financial market, financial services, problems, and specific financial institutions.

The Bank of Russia will also inform the Service on a quarterly basis about appeals related to protection of consumer rights in financial services with regard to financial market sectors, financial services and issues within the competence of the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Service will also be able to receive generalized information about appeals concerning specific financial institutions as well as other information required for consideration of appeals by the FOS.

One of the key areas of interaction under the agreement will be the exchange of information of a so-called behavioural nature. On a quarterly basis (if available) the Regulator will receive information about violations of the requirements of the Law “On the Financial Ombudsman for the Rights of Consumers of Financial Institutions Services” detected in the activities of financial institutions, as well as information about financial institutions, which commit such violations when making contributions to the activities of the Service. The Service will provide the Bank of Russia, also on a quarterly basis, with generalized information on the unacceptable practices used by financial institutions that were identified in the course of reviewing appeals.

The Service will also send information on the FOS practices in handling civil disputes between financial services consumers and financial institutions. The Bank of Russia, in turn, will send data on the unacceptable practices of financial institutions interacting with the FOS and information on its practices in protecting the rights of consumers of financial services.

The parties have agreed to exchange legal positions on issues related to the provision of services by financial institutions. It is also envisaged to exchange information on plans to implement measures and projects to improve financial literacy of citizens.

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