In the European Union, all consumers of financial services should be guaranteed the same level of protection of their rights. In the new EU Consumer Agenda, there is a need to consolidate the protection policy to address the contemporary problems posed by the increasing digitalisation of financial services. During the 30th Economic Forum in Karpacz, the Financial Ombudsman, Prof. Mariusz Golecki, talked about the necessity of international cooperation.
Dr Csaba Kandrács, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary, Ger Deering, Financial Ombudsman of Ireland, Prof. Christophe Paulin of the University of Toulouse, Prof. Piotr Tereszkiewicz of the Jagiellonian University and Prof. Mariusz J. Golecki, Financial Ombudsman, discussed within the panel “Consumer protection in the financial market from the European perspective”; the discussion was moderated by Prof. Mariola Lemonnier.
“The starting point should be a reflection on the European Consumer Agenda and the New Deal for Consumers of 2018, which provides for, among other things, specialised consumer protection depending on the specific nature of the market,” emphasised the Financial Ombudsman, Mariusz J. Golecki.
The debate focused on consumer protection issues in the context of financial products and services. Considerable attention was paid to the contemporary challenges of EU consumer law in the light of the European Parliament and Council (EU) Regulation.
The Financial Ombudsman pointed out that, in the interest of consumer welfare, cooperation at international level is necessary:
“We are dealing with the cross-border nature of consumer protection issues in the financial market in relation to both banking services, the capital and insurance markets and technology. The development of technology forces cooperation between entities in different countries, not only in the European Union, but also more broadly at the international level,” noted Mariusz J. Golecki
“In Europe, we have two models of consumer protection in financial services. The first is the Anglo-Saxon one, where we have an independent institution which, to a certain extent, replaces the courts, that is, reduces the number of proceedings – this is very important, because customer disputes with financial institutions are marked by a great deal of asymmetry – but also ensures the speed of proceedings and reduces their number. The second model relates to Hungary – the centralised, integrated model. In Europe we are still moving between the two models and here there is room for discussion as to how much centralisation will work and how much coordination between different institutions is necessary,” he added.
Debate: “Consumer protection in the financial market in the European perspective” was one of three panel discussions organised by the Financial Ombudsman as part of the 30th Economic Forum in Karpacz.
Other discussions concerned the following issues: unauthorised transactions as an example of contemporary threats to customer security in the financial market and Swiss franc loans today and tomorrow in the European context.
