THE Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex) released a statement over the weekend, calling for the "immediate enactment" of the proposed Financial Consumer Protection (FCP) bill (House Bill 6143) to strengthen the financial ecosystem of the country.

The Finex said it is important to pass reforms in the financial sector to ensure that appropriate mechanisms are in place to protect the interest of financial consumers amidst the growing complexity of financial products and services.

"The intricate development of financial products and services resulting from advancements in technology has opened countless opportunities for financial markets and consumers alike. It also poses new risks, particularly to financial consumers," Finex said.

"Reality has shown how financial products, including services accessed through digital channels, are susceptible to fraud or used for fraudulent purposes," the group added.

HB 6143 (the FCP bill), proposes to establish a comprehensive financial consumer protection framework. The bill aims to give financial regulators powers to determine the reasonableness of interests, fees or charges of financial products or services, issue cease and desist orders and suspend operations of financial service providers in relation to a particular product or service.

"The measure intends to address the lack of consumer protection mechanisms related to the provision of financial products and services, especially digital financial services," Finex said.

The group also said it believes an FCP law will significantly help the financial consumers to seek redress and recover their losses from their financial transaction in an "efficient and speedy manner."

Last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that  based on the "Reports on Crimes and Losses" filed by banks during the enhanced community quarantine covering the period March 15 to May 18, 2020, 98.4 percent of all criminal incidents reported were classified as "cyber" or online in nature.

This resulted in losses amounting to P60.6 million or 54.5 percent of all total bank losses during the two-month period.  Broken down, 80.5 percent of all cyber incidents reported were credit card and Internet banking-related, accounting for 79 percent of total losses.

The BSP said the majority of these threats were in the form of phishing emails and malicious websites, some even disguised as Covid-19 campaigns.

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