Post on 04-Jan-2016
description
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 1
Cross-border disputes
Adrian Dally
Head of Policy
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 2
a statutory footing...
we are the statutory ADR scheme set up by Parliament
Financial Conduct Authority (the regulator)
Financial Ombudsman Service (adjudicates on unresolved disputes)
Financial Services Compensation Scheme(fund of last resort)
Financial Services &
Markets Act 2000
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 3
our role…
we are tasked with resolving individual disputes “quickly and with minimum formality”
our job is to settle individual complaints: fairly quickly reasonably informally
we cover all retail financial businesses based in the UK… …and some based elsewhere in the EEA who have joined
voluntarily it does not matter where the complainant lives – anywhere
in the world.
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 4
formal conclusions
to ombudsman
mediated settlements
the process…
customercontactteam
unable to resolve
adjudicatorassessment
2
adjudicator investigatio
n
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 5
the number of new cases...
year ended 31 March
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
160000
180000
200000
220000
240000
260000
280000
300000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 6
accessibility matters…
The problem – in the past, we had fewer complaints from:
younger consumers
consumers from ‘lower’ socio-economic groups
consumers with disabilities
consumers whose native language was not English…
some groups of consumers find it harder to complain than others so we try to make it easier to contact us
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 7
accessibility matters even more…
…and we realised from stakeholder research that:
consumers from ‘lower’ socio-economic groups were more likely to experience detriment from financial businesses
the average UK / EU reading age was 11
even in 50 years time, we will still have to deal with many consumers ‘off-line’
…because this reflected deeper issues in society as a whole…
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 8
what we did…
specially-trained team of front-line advisers to work with vulnerable consumers
work with front-line community and advice workers to reach ‘lower’ socio-economic groups
three-way telephone conversations
on-line video and audio content
text-relay and sign-language
information in alternative formats – e.g. large print, CD/DVD, EasyRead
we made it easier to contact us by removing as many barriers as we could
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 9
language matters too…
We handled this by:
instant over-the-phone interpretation
translation of correspondence
website information in 25 languages
Total of 2282 cases handled in languages other than English or Welsh – 25% in non-European languages
in 2012 we had 1910 complaints from outside the UK from 104 different countries
in 46 different languages
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 10
the results so far…
Some positive progress, for example:
cases from unskilled consumers 5% 12%
cases from skilled / semi-skilled consumers 36% 54%
cases from professional / managerial consumers 59% 34%
21% of complainants have a disability (18% in population)
cases from non-white consumers 8% 12%
…with no difference in outcomes between groups
more cases from ‘lower’ socio-economic groups and from those with a disability
or from non-white backgrounds
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 11
cross-border disputes matter…
The internal market in financial services is growing
4% of EU citizens holding shares, bonds or investment funds bought them in another Member State,
3% of EU citizens having a bank account opened itin another EU country,
2 % of those with a mortgage, credit card or personal loan bought their product in anotherEU country and
1% of those having an insurance product bought it in another Member State.
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 12
so we have FinNet…
…to help consumers find the right ADR body when they complain about a trader in another member state
the consumer contacts the nearest (home) ADR body.
the nearest ADR body provides the consumer with the information about the ‘competent’ ADR body in the country of the financial services provider
then
the home ADR body sends the complaint to the ‘competent’ ADR body (or helps the consumer to do so)
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 13
FinNet coverage…
…is getting better, but there are gaps
Country Banking Payments Insurance Investments
Austria FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Belgium FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Germany FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Denmark FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Estonia FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Greece FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Spain FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Finland FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
France FIN-NET FIN-NET
Hungary FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Ireland FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Italy FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 14
FinNet coverage (continued…)
Country Banking Payments Insurance Investments
Lithuania FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Luxembourg FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Latvia
Malta FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Netherlands FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Poland FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Portugal FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Romania
Sweden FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Slovenia
Slovakia
United Kingdom FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Norway FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Iceland FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET FIN-NET
Liechtenstein FIN-NET FIN-NET
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 15
FinNet’s caseload…
…is growing
YearTotal number of cross-border cases handled by FIN-NET members
Cross-border cases by sectors
Banking Insurance Investments Other
2007 1 041 492 267 280 2
2008 1 346 673 326 335 12
2009 1 542 884 244 410 4
2010 1 794 1 123 348 302 21
2011 1°854 992 518 315 29
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 16
the challenges ahead…
…there are a number of challenges if ADR is to achieve its full impact
achieve fuller coverage
better accessibility for all consumers – not just on-line
better visibility and branding
better links with regulators
better added value through transparency
© May not be reproduced without permission of Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd 17
Any questions?