Comprehensive Market Conduct and Consumer Protection Framework to Be Developed for Financial Sector

  • On April 2nd, consistent with the Government’s thrust to develop a robust and comprehensive market conduct and consumer protection framework for the financial sector, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) issued Automated Banking Machines (ABM) Service-Level Standards for deposit-taking institutions (DTIs).
  • Senior Deputy Governor, BOJ, Dr. Wayne Robinson, says this market conduct and consumer protection framework will be established with the implementation of the Twin Peaks model of financial sector supervision. The Twin Peaks model, with a scheduled timeline for its legislation to reach Parliament by 2025, will see the responsibility for prudential supervision and regulation of DTIs being vested in the BOJ.
  • However, the development and implementation of the Twin Peaks Model “will take time”, and given the urgent nature of the ABM problem(s) at hand, Mr. Robinson noted that “as a first step in developing this framework where we can provide adequate protection that addresses consumer needs, the Bank decided to begin to roll out these guidelines for ABM service-level Standards”.
  • The ABM Standards address issues relating to the deployment of ABMs, accessibility and ease-of-use, availability of cash, ABM fees and charges, infrastructure maintenance and the management of disruptions, client safety and security, fraud minimisation, and financial education of ABM users.
  • A statement issued by BOJ on the day the Standards were promulgated indicates that the DTIs have a nine-month transition period within which to bring themselves into conformity with all the new ABM guidelines. The BOJ deemed this timeline reasonable and a feasible window “for them to be in a position to start meeting the majority, if not all of the Standards”.
  • Dr. Robinson noted that the DTIs have been “very supportive” of the Standards, noting that the Jamaica Bankers Association has indicated so publicly. “We have been seeing improvements, certainly compared to the experiences last year… and when you look at the data that was published, you will see those improvements. A number of banks have met the benchmark for the number of ABMs in operation and also met the benchmark, in terms of the uptime,” he adds.

(Source: JIS)