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BULGARIA Diagnostic Review of Consumer Protection and Financial Capability Sofia, 13 April 2009. Sue Rutledge Regional Coordinator, Consumer Protection World Bank srutledge@worldbank.org. Household Bank Accounts Worldwide. Source: World Bank. Source: Unicredit. Expansion of Consumer Credit.
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BULGARIADiagnostic Review of Consumer Protection and Financial CapabilitySofia, 13 April 2009 Sue Rutledge Regional Coordinator, Consumer Protection World Bank srutledge@worldbank.org
Household Bank Accounts Worldwide Source: World Bank
Source: Unicredit Expansion of Consumer Credit Source: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Institutional Gaps to be Filled • Address financial consumers’ inquiries & complaints • Efficiently resolve consumer disputes on small amounts of money • Gather, publish and analyze data on consumer inquiries, complaints & disputes • Submit reports to financial supervisors • Recommend measures to improve consumer protection
Recommendations • Short-term: Consumer Protection Commission to interface with financial supervisory agencies • Medium-term: Consumer Protection Commission to cover consumer protection for all financial services • Long-term: Financial ombudsman to be created to handle disputes, complaints and inquiries for consumer financial services
Complaints, Inquiries & Disputes about Financial Services • UK Financial Ombudsman Service - 116,600 • Italian Banking Ombudsman - 4,000 • French Insurance Mediator – 4,000 • Belgian Insurance Ombudsman - 3,400 • Hellenic Ombudsman for Banking – Investment Services – 1,500 • Bulgaria – Various Agencies Combined – 1,200 • Consumer Complaints Scheme of the German Association of Private Building Societies – 650 • Finnish Securities Complaint Board - 250
More Recommendations • Publish statistics on financial consumer complaints • Make conciliation committees permanent standing committees, using written submissions • Make decisions of conciliation committees binding on financial institutions for small amounts of money • Monitor effectiveness—and public confidence—in conciliation committees for financial services
More Information www.worldbank.org/eca/consumerprotection
BULGARIADiagnostic Review of Consumer Protection and Financial CapabilitySofia, 13 April 2009 Sue Rutledge Regional Coordinator, Consumer Protection World Bank srutledge@worldbank.org