New law provides protection to consumers of financial products

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has signed into law a measure providing more protection to consumers of financial products and services.

Duterte signed Republic Act 11765 or the “Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act” on May 6. A copy of the law was released to reporters yesterday.

The law mandates the State to implement measures to protect the following rights of financial consumers – right to equitable and fair treatment, disclosure and transparency of financial products and services, protection of consumer assets against fraud and misuse, data privacy and protection and timely handling and redress of complaints.

Under the law, financial service providers must ensure to adopt disclosure principles in their communications and their contracts with consumers, including the use of clear and concise language to ensure that target clients understand all information concerning financial products or services.

“This should also include updated and accurate disclosure of information such as pricing or any cost associated with the product or service, and should be made in a consistent manner to facilitate a comparison between similar financial products or services across the industry,” it said.

Financial service provider must establish a single consumer assistance mechanism for free assistance to financial consumers or financial transaction concerns.

The law also gives the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities and Exchange Commission the authority to order reimbursement of lost funds within a certain threshold.

Meanwhile, Sen. Grace Poe, author and sponsor of the law, welcomed its enactment, saying the core of the statute is protection and reinforcement of the Filipino financial consumers’ rights to redress, information and privacy. –  Paolo Romero