Financial services play a great role in the every day life of consumers: they facilitate purchases, they are needed for savings and investments and for insurance against risks. The Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), a network of US and EU consumer organizations, organized a conference on financial services on Wednesday in Brussels. At the conference the consumer representatives also introduced a new resolution. In this resolution they call upon US and EU governments to address a range of issues:
- Information design and disclosure
- Contracts, charges and practices
- The structure and functions of national financial consumer protection bodies
- International Trade Agreements should not undermine financial regulation
- Redress and dispute resolution systems
- Promoting competition in financial services
- Measures to promote stability and safety of consumers’ deposits and investments
- Access to basic financial services and the role of new forms of services
Furthermore, the consumer representatives called upon the G20 governments to improve consumer protection in financial services globally. At the G20 meeting in South Korea in November 2010 the heads of governments asked the Financial Stability Board and the OECD to explore measures to enhance consumer protection. Currently both organizations work on their recommendations. The results will be presented at the next G20 meeting in November 2011.
Further information: TACD Resolution on G20 Action on Financial Consumer Protection and www.consumersinternational.org/media/669348/cifinancialreport2011.pdf
Sources: TACD and Consumers International