In the Russian institute of human rights defenders, the already existing three federal ombudsmen (for human rights, the rights of the child and protection of the rights of entrepreneurs) have recently been joined by another - a defender of depositors, borrowers and insured persons - a financial ombudsman.
In Sweden, which is the founder of the ombudsman institution, the term is interpreted as "representative", "attorney", "business manager". In a broad sense, it is a civilian or official who is authorized by the state to monitor the observance of justice in the interaction of citizens with the executive branch and various departments in a particular area of life. In many states there is a so-called “financial market conciliator”. This is the body that extrajudicially considers disputes and disagreements arising between individuals and organizations that provide financial services: banks, lenders, insurers.
In our country, until recently, similar issues were dealt with by a structure in the association of Russian banks, headed by State Duma deputy Pavel Medvedev. A citizen who could not independently solve problems related to lending or insurance in a complaint procedure was free to choose - immediately file a claim in court or first file a complaint about violation of his rights to the conciliator. Due to the fact that the nature of the decisions made by the financial ombudsman was advisory, it was possible to resolve differences in this way exclusively on a voluntary basis.
The situation changed dramatically with the adoption of Federal Law No. 123-FZ dated 04.06.2018. A mandatory procedure for the pre-trial settlement of disputes in the field of financial services was established by law. The decision of the financial ombudsman has become an official document, which is equivalent to a writ of execution:
- If the financial institution refuses to comply with the decision of the Ombudsman, he will issue and give the consumer a certificate. The document will be the basis for enforcing the decision forcibly, with the help of a bailiff. In addition, the legal entity will be fined 50% of the amount on demand and up to 50,000 rubles for refusing to voluntarily settle.
- For those financiers and insurers who, having agreed with the decision of the authorized person, voluntarily, in a timely manner and in full, satisfy the property requirements of their clients, incentive measures are provided. In particular, they are exempted from paying fines for violation of consumer rights.
Financial ombudsmen do not replace the judiciary. And the decision, made not in favor of the consumer of financial services, does not prevent him from further going to court.
After the entry into force of 123-FZ, the duties of the country's chief financial ombudsman were assigned to Yuri Voronin, who previously served as an adviser to the chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. At the federal level, three more specialized human rights defenders have been appointed - insurance, banking and universal. The legislator has endowed financial commissioners with independence from federal and regional authorities, which allows them to be objective and impartial.
Thus, the financial sector is under additional supervision and citizens have the opportunity to settle many issues out of court.
