12 may 2023, 09:12

Olga Kraynova talks about approaches to the harmonization of out-of-court protection of consumers of financial services in the Eurasian Economic Union countries

The Advisory Committee of the Financial Ombudsman Schemes of the Eurasian Economic Union member states developed recommendations for all the EAEU member states on the harmonization of the out-of-court protection of consumers of financial services in the EAEU countries. This was reported by Head of the Ombudsman for financial services consumers support Service (OFSC) Olga Kraynova at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) session “International experience of out-of-court protection of financial services consumers” within the 11th St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

In terms of common requirements for all EAEU countries, members of the Advisory Committee recommended establishing flexible and informal procedures in all financial ombudsman institutions in the EAEU member states to facilitate dispute resolution through conciliation, taking into account the specificity of each country, Olga Kraynova went on.

The committee members suggested developing legal norms aimed at regulating judicial review of decisions made by alternative (or compulsory out-of-court) dispute resolution bodies. “But this regulation should essentially be such as not to violate the principles underlying the activities of alternative (or compulsory out-of-court) dispute resolution bodies,” Olga Kraynova pointed out.

“With regard to the Russia, members of the committee recommended considering the option of expanding the range of persons entitled to apply to the Financial Ombudsman, including assessing the appropriateness of attributing the consideration of appeals against brokers to the competence of the Financial Ombudsman,” she said.

In addition, it was proposed to expand the range of claims to be considered by the Financial Ombudsman to include non-monetary claims, as well as to increase the threshold amount of claims subject to consideration by the Financial Ombudsman.

Thus, the maximum amount of claims of consumers of financial services against financial institutions to be considered by the Financial Ombudsman could be raised to 1.5 million roubles from the current threshold of 500 thousand roubles. “We have examined the practice that we now have: in 99% of cases of appeals over 500 thousand, in which we refuse, they fall within the limit of 1.5 million roubles. And the practice of our colleagues from Armenia also corresponds to the equivalent of 1.5 million roubles,” Olga Kraynova added. The Financial Ombudsman Service is currently working on such a hypothetical scenario with the Bank of Russia’s legal department.
 

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