Center

HK to establish finance resolution center

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-12-13 20:40

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong will set up an education council and a finance resolution center to enhance education and protection for investors, said the government on Monday.

The Investor Education Council (IEC), designated to devise and take forward the strategy for improving financial literacy in Hong Kong, will raise people's awareness of rights and responsibilities and generic knowledge of financial products, said K C Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

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"It will also help enhance people's abilities in managing finance, hence helping them make better financial decisions."

Meanwhile, the Financial Dispute Resolution Center (FDRC), responsible for managing an independent and impartial dispute resolution scheme by way of "mediation first, arbitration next", will offer a speedy and affordable way to handle monetary disputes between consumers and financial institutions, said Chan.

"If disputes cannot be resolved through mediation, claimants can choose to bring their cases to arbitration," Chan added.

The FDRC is expected to be set up by mid 2012, and its operation costs in the first three years will be provided by the government along with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Chan said.

"Financial institutions regulated by the HKMA and the SFC will be obligated to be members of the financial dispute resolution scheme."

The IEC will be set up as a wholly owned company and fully funded by the SFC.

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau consulted industry groups, professional bodies and consumers during the consultation period early this year on the proposed establishment of an IEC and an FDRC, and received a total of 115 submissions.

"We aim to introduce legislative amendments to the Securities and Futures Ordinance in this legislative session to authorize the SFC to establish the IEC. The SFC's ambit on investor education will also be broadened to cover financial products and services other than those in the securities and futures sector," Chan said.