NBU approves new information disclosure requirements for banks

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has approved new requirements for banks to disclose information about services in advertising and on their websites, obliging financial institutions to fulfill them within six and three months respectively.

In particular, all banks must provide comprehensive information about their services on websites in a single unified format in three months. So, they have to indicate the full cost of services, including commissions to third parties and payments for additional services, the frequency of loan repayment, conditions for early repayments, and possible fines, the NBU said on its website on December 2.

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The regulator will start control over compliance with the requirements and daily monitoring of the banks' websites in three months.

The NBU reminded that the legislation provides for a fine from 300 to 600 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens for each case of non-disclosure of information in full.

Moreover, calculators are expected to appear on the banks' websites in six months to estimate relevant expenses or revenue.

In addition, new instructions for the disclosure of information in advertising, which will contain the characteristics of banking services, their full cost, conditions, and risks, shall be executed in six months.

The central bank also recommended that financial institutions develop their automated databases to record customers' appeals, determine a responsible person for their consideration, conduct training programs for employees working with clients, as well as eliminate and prevent violations of rules with regard to bank customers.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on September 20, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, passed a draft law on protecting the rights of consumers of financial services. So, the National Bank received powers to protect the rights of such consumers. The law comes into force three months after signing by the president, or from January 2020.

Head of the NBU Office for the Protection of Consumer Rights in Financial Services Olha Lobaichuk told UNIAN that, according to the law adopted, the regulator would fine financial institutions for not providing true information about the real cost of loans in advertisements.