G20 High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection

Consumer confidence and trust in a well-functioning market for financial services promotes financial stability, growth, efficiency and innovation over the long term. Traditional regulatory and supervisory frameworks adopted by oversight bodies contribute to the protection of consumers – which is often and increasingly recognised as a major objective of these bodies together with financial stability. However, and while it already exists in several jurisdictions, additional and/or strengthened dedicated and proportionate policy action to enhance financial consumer protection is also considered necessary to address recent and more structural developments.

This renewed policy and regulatory focus on financial consumer protection results inter alia from the increased transfer of opportunities and risks to individuals and households in various segments of financial services, as well as the increased complexity of financial products and rapid technological change, all coming at a time when basic access to financial products and the level of financial literacy remain low in a number of jurisdictions. Rapid financial market development and innovation, unregulated or inadequately regulated and/or supervised financial services providers, and misaligned incentives for financial services providers can increase the risk that consumers face fraud, abuse and misconduct. In particular, low-income and less experienced consumers often face particular challenges in the market place.

In light of these issues, financial consumer protection should be reinforced and integrated with other financial inclusion and financial education policies. This contributes to strengthening financial stability. It is essential to protect consumers’ rights while also recognising the fact that these rights do come with consumer responsibilities. This calls for legal recognition of financial consumer protection, oversight bodies with necessary authority and resources to carry out their mission, fair treatment, proper disclosure, improved financial education, responsible business conduct by financial services providers and authorised agents, objective and adequate advice, protection of assets and data including from fraud and abuse, competitive frameworks, adequate complaints handling and redress mechanisms and policies which address, when relevant, sectoral and international specificities, technological developments and special needs of vulnerable groups. This approach complements and builds upon financial regulation and supervision and financial governance.

In order to ensure effective and proportionate financial consumer protection regimes, it is important that all stakeholders participate in the policy making process.

The principles are addressed to G20 members and other interested economies and are designed to assist the efforts to enhance financial consumer protection. They are voluntary principles, designed to complement, not substitute for, existing international financial principles or guidelines. In particular, they do not address sector specific issues dealt with by the relevant international organisations and the financial standard setters (such as BCBS, IAIS and IOSCO). Different kinds of transactions present different risk profiles. The principles may need to be adapted to specific national and sectoral contexts and should be reviewed periodically by relevant international bodies.2 All G20 members and other interested economies should assess their national frameworks for financial consumer protection in the light of these principles and promote international co-operation to support the strengthening of financial consumer protection in line with, and building upon, the principles.

G20 High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection

October 2011. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,
2 rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris cedex 16, Francewww.oecd.org