GLOBAL SURVEY ON CONSUMER PROTECTION AND FINANCIAL LITERACY
Public Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedTHE WORLD BANK1818 H STREET, NWWASHINGTON DC .org/financialinclusionPublic Disclosure AuthorizedFINANCIAL INCLUSION AND INFRASTRUCTURE GLOBAL PRACTICE88773GLOBAL SURVEY ON CONSUMERPROTECTION AND FINANCIAL LITERACY:OVERSIGHT FRAMEWORKS ANDPRACTICES IN 114 ECONOMIES
2014 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank1818 H Street NWWashington DC 20433Telephone: 202-473-1000Internet: www.worldbank.orgALL RIGHTS RESERVEDThis work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusionsexpressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent.The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, andother information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning thelegal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONSThe material in this work is subject to copyright. Because The World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this workmay be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given.Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The WorldBank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2422; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org.If you have any questions about this product, please contact:The Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure Global PracticeThe World Bank GroupI9-9051818 H Street NWWashington DC 20433USAPHONE: 1 (202) 473-1000FAX: 1 (202) 522-3199EMAIL: financialinclusion@worldbank.orgWEB: financialinclusion
ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThis report presents the results of the Global Survey on Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy. The survey was made possible by the generous contribution of time and expertise by central bank and financial regulatory authority officials in the 114economies who responded to this year’s survey.The survey is a product of the World Bank Financial Inclusion & Infrastructure Global Practice. Gaiv Tata and Douglas Pearceprovided overall guidance. The team led by Nataliya Mylenko comprised Adetola Adenuga, Roziah Baba, Elizabeth Davidson,Ros Grady, Johanna Jaeger and Valentina Saltane. Michael Fuchs, Samuel Maimbo, Cedric Mousset, Andrej Popovic, RekhaReddy, and Siegfried Zottel provided substantive inputs in the Survey design and results analysis. The survey was designed withinputs from FinCoNet, as coordinated by John Rossi.OVERSIGHT FRAMEWORKS AND PRACTICES IN 114 ECONOMIESi
iiGLOBAL SURVEY ON CONSUMER PROTECTION AND FINANCIAL LITERACY:
TABLE OF CONTENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32LEGAL FRAMEWORK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . 94FAIR TREATMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185DISCLOSURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216RESPONSIBLE LENDING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND RECOURSE . . . . . 278FINANCIAL EDUCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29ANNEXES1LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK. . . . . . . 322INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . 363DISCLOSURE PRACTICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444BUSINESS PRACTICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISMS. . . . . . . . 546FINANCIAL EDUCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60OVERSIGHT FRAMEWORKS AND PRACTICES IN 114 ECONOMIESiii
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYFinancial consumer protection laws, regulations, supervisoryand oversight structures constitute an essential element of themodern financial system. As recent financial crisis demonstrated, adequate financial consumer protection is an important contributor to financial stability. Moreover, responsiblebehavior by financial service providers and ability for the users of financial services to protect their interests contribute toeconomic empowerment of the population. Aggressive financial inclusion targets adopted at national and internationallevels1 and active policies to support broad based financialinclusion need to be supported by effective implementationof financial consumer protection and improvements in financial capabilities of consumers.The High-level Principles on Financial Consumer Protectionwere endorsed by the G20 Finance Ministers and CentralBank Governors in 2011.2 The World Bank published GoodPractices for Financial Consumer Protection3 in 2012.This report summarizes the results of the Global Survey onConsumer Protection and Financial Literacy conducted bythe World Bank in 2013. The survey assessed the global statusof financial consumer protection regulation and oversightframeworks in line with the G20 Principles and World BankGood Practices. Using the data from an earlier survey completed in 2010 the report evaluates progress in a number ofareas.1For World Bank targets of universal financial access for all working-ageadults by 2020, please see overtyinnovation-jim-yong-kim; for the Maya Declaration targets, see f.Progress report at 0EffectiveApproachesFCP.pdf3World Bank, 2012. “Good Practices for Financial ConsumerProtection,” http://responsiblefinance.worldbank.org/ financial-consumerprotection.pdfRegulators involved in financial consumer protection in 114jurisdictions from all regions responded to the survey. Themain results along the six consumer protection dimensionscovered by the survey are summarized below.Legal Framework. A broad legal framework for financial consumer protection is in place in most economies, but reformsare needed to clarify the roles of various stakeholders andstreamline implementation. Some form of legal frameworkfor financial consumer protection is in place in 112 out of114 economies. Legal framework is diffused through variouslaws and statutes often resulting in gaps and overlaps. Thereform to rationalize and streamline legislation is ongoing inmany jurisdictions.Institutional Arrangements. More economies allocatedresources for financial consumer protection supervision,but institutional arrangements remain complex and supervisory authority and compliance monitoring tools limited.The number of financial regulators dedicating resources tofinancial consumer protection increased from 68 percent to89 percent between 2010 and 2013. In over 90 percent ofeconomies agencies responsible for prudential supervisionalso have a responsibility for financial consumer protection.In more than a half of these jurisdictions financial consumerprotection function is established in a unit separate fromprudential supervision. The supervisors employed a broaderrange of compliance monitoring tools such as monitoringcomplaints statistics used by 49 agencies in 2013 comparedto 23 in 2010. A number of jurisdictions reform institutionalarrangements to enhance and streamline supervision of financial consumer protection. Further evaluation of effectiveapproaches for financial consumer protection supervision isimportant.Fair Treatment. Legal framework in most countries providesbroad provisions on fair treatment such as protections for client confidentiality present in 80 percent of economies andrestrictions on deceptive advertising present in 75 percentOVERSIGHT FRAMEWORKS AND PRACTICES IN 114 ECONOMIES1
of economies. Fewer economies have provisions specific tofinancial industry such as restrictions on predatory lending(59 percent), bundling and tying of services (49 percent) andabusive collections (45 percent).Disclosure Requirements. Consumers have varying degree ofprotection for similar financial products depending on whattype of financial institution offers them. Only in 18 percentof economies are unregulated financial institutions subjectto disclosure requirements at account opening, comparedto 67 percent of economies where such requirements existsfor regulated institutions and 79 percent of economies wherebanks are subject to disclosure regulations. Further researchand consumer testing are needed to identify effective formsof disclosure and methods of monitoring compliance withdisclosure requirements.Responsible Lending. Going beyond disclosure a growingnumber of countries are looking into regulatory restrictionsto contain overindebtedness and ensure affordability of creditand investment products. In 77 percent of economies lendersare required to assess borrower ability to repay and 35 percentof economies have explicit limits restricting the amount ofloans or debt service in relation to income for certain products such as credit cards and mortgages. Research is neededto evaluate the effectiveness of such limits and their impacton access.Dispute resolution and recourse. Effective dispute resolution mechanisms, including at financial provider level area crucial part of financial consumer protection framework.Financial service providers in 73 percent of economies arerequired to implement procedures and processes for resolving customer complaints. Alternative dispute resolutionmechanisms such as financial ombudsmen or similar institutions exist in 75 percent of economies. In about one third ofjurisdictions, the dispute resolution function is performed bya supervisory agency.2Financial Literacy. Financial supervisors in 71 percentof economies are involved in financial education activities.Primary focus of supervisors is on improving public awareness on financial issues and developing training materials(78 percent of economies). The role of financial supervisorsin improving financial literacy and capability of the usersof financial services is an evolving subject deserving futureresearch.Overall the survey results show that financial consumer protection is an area of much reform. The need for reform isdriven by the rapid expansion of retail financial markets inemerging markets in recent years and by the fallout from therecent financial crisis in the developed markets. Survey resultsshow that while the basics of a financial consumer protectionframework are in place in most countries, few have adequatesystems in place. The survey provides a high level scoping ofthe issues and much more granular analysis of the specificissues is needed.The function of financial consumer protection supervisionis far behind prudential supervision in terms of availablemethodologies for compliance monitoring, range and natureof enforcement actions, and supervisory skills. There is a needto assess experience of supervisors in implementing the newand expanded set of rules and regulations and evaluate the effectiveness of the supervisory tools in place. There is also needfor future research in the effectiveness of the key consumerprotection measures used today: disclosure and affordabilityrequirements.Endorsement of the High-level Principles on FinancialConsumer Protection was an important step in developingan internationally accepted framework for financial consumerprotection regulation and supervision. Further efforts at thenational and international levels can build on this first stepand develop more targeted guidance as the field of financialconsumer protection evolves.GLOBAL SURVEY ON CONSUMER PROTECTION AND FINANCIAL LITERACY:
1BACKGROUNDAccess to basic financial services contributes to poverty reduction and is a fundamental element of an inclusive economicsystem. About two billion adults worldwide have a depositor a loan with a regulated financial institution. Customersnot served by the formal system rely on informal providersfor their savings, borrowing, payments and insurance needs.4When using financial products, consumers should know andunderstand associated risks and benefits to make the rightdecisions. Yet information asymmetries, power imbalancesand behavioral biases in financial markets may result in pooroutcomes for both consumers and for financial service providers. It is the role of financial consumer protection and financial education policies, in conjunction with the regulationof financial institutions and markets, to ensure safe access tofinancial services and support financial stability and financialinclusion objectives.The global financial crisis has highlighted the importanceof financial consumer protection for financial stability. Thereport of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on ConsumerFinance Protection with Particular Focus on Credit5 endorsedby G20 notes that “[p]olicies that protect the interests ofconsumers of financial products and services contribute toenhanced risk management by households, more competitivefinancial markets, and greater financial stability. This financial crisis demonstrated the desirability of strengthening suchpolicies and ensuring that the use (or misuse) of individualfinancial products do not become a source of financial instability.” The report calls for further work on identifyinggood practices in financial consumer protection, including4Collins, Daryl, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford, and OrlandaRutheven, 2009. Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on 2 aDay, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.5FSB, 2011. “Consumer Finance Protection with Particular Focuson Credit,” s/r 111026a.pdfon institutional arrangements and supervisory tools and forgreater international coordination.As financial products and the related delivery channels become more complex, the need for effective consumer protection rises. Emerging-market economies in which a largenumber of people join the formal financial system for thefirst time face particular challenges. In Peru, the numberof depositors more than doubled between 2005 and 2011,adding 5.2 million new clients as financial inclusion initiatives drew more customers to banks. Bangladesh doubled thenumber of depositors in the same period, adding 16.9 millionnew depositors.6 Until recently, in low- and middle-incomeeconomies, formal financial institutions focused only onhigh-income groups serving a small portion of the population. As retail financial services expand and more people gainaccess to deposit, payment and credit services, there is a newcategory of clients who have no prior experience, including intheir family or among friends, of dealing with banks or anyother formal financial services providers.Consumer protection and financial literacy can contributeto improved efficiency, transparency, competition and accessto retail financial markets by reducing information asymmetries and power imbalances among providers and users offinancial services. Rapid progress toward widespread financialinclusion must be appropriately complemented with “checksand balances” that ensure a responsible provision of financialservices and products. Consumer protection and financialliteracy and capability can support financial inclusion byencouraging competition which leads to more cost-effectiveand higher quality products and by increasing consumer confidence and reducing risk when purchasing financial productsand services, because they know remedies exist when thingsgo wrong.6Data for Peru and Bangladesh from Financial Access Survey, http://fas.imf.orgOVERSIGHT FRAMEWORKS AND PRACTICES IN 114 ECONOMIES3
A number of international efforts are in place to improvedialogue and identify best practices in financial consumerprotection. The G20 Principles for Innovative FinancialInclusion adopted in 2010 include consumer protection asone of the nine principles urging countries to “encourage acomprehensive approach to consumer protection that recognizes the roles of government, providers and consumers.”7 TheHigh-level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection wereendorsed by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central BankGovernors at their meeting in October 20118 (Box 1). TheG20/OECD Task Force on Financial Consumer Protectionreleased the Report on Effective Approaches to Supportthe Implementation of the G20 High Level Principles onFinancial Consumer Protection in September of 2013.9The World Bank published Good Practices for FinancialConsumer Protection10 in 2012, based on in-depth countrylevel reviews of consumer protection and financial literacy.The Good Practices are a compilation of the most frequentlyused practices that have been successfully carried out in thefield. They represent a summary of useful approaches for theimprovement of conduct of financial institutions when dealing with retail customers and aim to provide a reference forpolicymakers in designing their financial consumer protection frameworks.To contribute to the international dialogue on financialconsumer protection the World Bank in conjunction withFinCoNet, an international cooperation platform for supervisory agencies in the area of financial consumer protection,conducted a Global Survey on Consumer Protection andFinancial Literacy to collect information from financial regulatory agencies in 114 economies. This report summarizes theresults of the survey and draws on recent reports and studies by G20, OECD, World Bank and others to provide anoverview of the practices in financial consumer protectionregulation and supervision around the world.BOX 1. HIGH-LEVEL PRINCIPLES ON FINANCIALCONSUMER PROTECTION ENDORSED BY THE G201. Legal, Regulatory and Supervisory Framework2. Role of Oversight Bodies3. Equitable and Fair Treatment of Consumers4. Disclosure and Transparency5. Financial Education and Awareness6. Responsible Business Conduct of Financial ServicesProviders and Authorized Agents7. Protection of Consumer Assets against Fraud andMisuse8. Protection of Consumer Data and Privacy9. Complaints Handling and Redress10. CompetitionWORLD BANK GLOBAL SURVEYON CONSUMER PROTECTION ANDFINANCIAL LITERACYThe World Bank Global Survey builds on a body of work bythe World Bank Group (World Bank, CGAP, IFC), includingvarious surveys, individual country diagnostics and case studies.11 The results of the earlier surveys provided comprehensiveinformation and benchmarking of the key financial consumerprotection regulations worldwide. This year, the World BankGlobal Survey updates this information and collects newinformation on the financial education efforts by financialregulators and on issues related to responsible lending to helpmonitor progress in financial consumer protection reforms.The World Bank Global Survey on Consumer Protectionand Financial Literacy was conducted during the period ofFebruary to May 2013. The core set of questions is based onthe earlier survey conducted by the World Bank Group 48892010.pdfProgress report at 0EffectiveApproachesFCP.pdf9G20/OECD Task Force on Financial Consumer Protection. “UpdateReport on the Work to Support the Implementation of the G20 HighLevel Principles on Financial Consumer Protection.” http://ww
This report presents the results of the Global Survey on Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy. The survey was made pos-sible by the generous contribution of time and expertise by central bank and financial regulatory authority officials in the 114 economies who responded to this year’s survey. The survey is a product of the World Bank Financial Inclusion & Infrastructure Global .
The Consumer Protection (Consumer Goods Safety Requirements) Regulations 2011 (CGSR) were introduced on 1 April 2011 to enhance consumer protection against unsafe general consumer goods. The CGSR covers general consumer goods which are not under the purview of other regulations or regulatory agencies in Singapore.
United States Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey for 2017-2018. Included in this Survey Report is all data that was provided by survey participants in the Consumer Law survey who reported that their practice included the area of Bankruptcy Law. This survey is the only Consumer Bankruptcy Law survey whose methodologies have been
2 Consumer Confidence Index, OECD, oecd-ilibrary.org. 3 McKinsey US Consumer Sentiment Survey, February 2009; McKinsey Global Institute Europe Consumer Insights Survey, December 2008. 2 How consumer-goods
Consumer Protection Law: Overview Generally consumer protection laws apply to a business engaged in trade and commerce, either directly or indirectly, with consumers. States use different terminology:-Supplier -Merchant -Person -Individual Some consumer protection laws, however, specifically exclude certain industries.
MAKING CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATION MORE CUSTOMER-CENTRIC ACRONYMS AND INITIALISMS BCBS Basel Committee on Banking Supervision CARD Act Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act CFPB Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (U.S.) COFI Conduct of Financial Institutions EU European Union FCA Financial Conduct Authority (U.K.) FinCoNet International Financial Consumer Protection .
consumer protection in the travel and travel related services industry, separated according to the three components of the review's Terms of Reference. The need for consumer protection measures in the travel industry 1 For the most part, competitive markets underpinned by generic consumer protection rules, some
Consumer Markets and Consumer Buying Behavior CB-2 Consumer Buying Behavior Consumer behavior is the actions a person takes in purchasing and using products and services, including the mental and social processes that precede and follow these actions Consumer Buying Behavior refers t
For details, see Auto Scaling User Guide. 1.2 API Calling AS supports Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs, allowing you to call APIs using HTTPS. For details about API calling, see Calling APIs. 1.3 Endpoints Region and endpoint are the request address for calling an API. Endpoints vary depending on services and regions. For the endpoints of the AS service, see Regions and Endpoints. 1 .
