1. WORLD BANK BULGARIA Diagnostic Review of Consumer Protection and Financial Capability Sofia, 13 April 2009 Sue Rutledge Regional Coordinator, Consumer Protection World Bank srutledge@worldbank.org

2. WORLD BANK 2 Household Bank Accounts Worldwide Source: World Bank

3. WORLD BANK 3 Expansion of Consumer Credit Source: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Source: Unicredit

4. WORLD BANK 4 Diagnostic Reviews

5. WORLD BANK 5 Institutional Gaps to be Filled 1. Address financial consumers’ inquiries & complaints 2. Efficiently resolve consumer disputes on small amounts of money 3. Gather, publish and analyze data on consumer inquiries, complaints & disputes 4. Submit reports to financial supervisors 5. Recommend measures to improve consumer protection

6. WORLD BANK 6 Recommendations  Short-term: Consumer Protection Commission to interface with financial supervisory agencies  Medium-term: Consumer Protection Commission to cover consumer protection for all financial services  Long-term: Financial ombudsman to be created to handle disputes, complaints and inquiries for consumer financial services

7. WORLD BANK 7 Complaints, Inquiries & Disputes about Financial Services UK Financial Ombudsman Service - 116,600 Italian Banking Ombudsman - 4,000 French Insurance Mediator – 4,000 Belgian Insurance Ombudsman - 3,400 Hellenic Ombudsman for Banking – Investment Services – 1,500 Bulgaria – Various Agencies Combined – 1,200 Consumer Complaints Scheme of the German Association of Private Building Societies – 650 Finnish Securities Complaint Board - 250

8. WORLD BANK 8 More Recommendations Publish statistics on financial consumer complaints Make conciliation committees permanent standing committees, using written submissions Make decisions of conciliation committees binding on financial institutions for small amounts of money Monitor effectiveness—and public confidence— in conciliation committees for financial services

9. WORLD BANK 9 More Information www.worldbank.org/eca/consumerprotection

10. WORLD BANK BULGARIA Diagnostic Review of Consumer Protection and Financial Capability Sofia, 13 April 2009 Sue Rutledge Regional Coordinator, Consumer Protection World Bank srutledge@worldbank.org