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Managing the regulatory environment and consumer
protection -
latest reports from ITU Focus Group on Digital Financial Services
Further clarification to help drive development of
international framework for regulators, operators and providers in the telecom
and financial services sectors
Geneva, 12 July 2016 - The International Telecommunication
Union (ITU)
Focus Group on Digital Financial Services has published two
further reports as it seeks to develop an international framework of good
practice guidelines for regulators, operators and providers in the telecom and
financial services sectors. In addition to the
four
research papers published last month it has now released two new
reports: one on regulation in the DFS ecosystem and another on consumer
protection.
ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao said: “Regulation must nurture the
development of a strong and healthy digital finance sector. Given the complexity
of the regulatory environment, it can often be a challenge for telecom and
financial services regulatory bodies in many emerging markets to collaborate in
developing national guidelines. For the first time the Focus Group has sought to
identify a clear framework that regulators around the world can use. I believe
also that the work being done will contribute significantly towards reducing
global poverty, helping therefore to achieve the first Sustainable Development
Goal”
The Focus Group Paper ‘Regulation
in the Digital Financial Services Ecosystem’ identifies categories
of regulation and addresses a number of issues relating to managing the
regulatory environment. It includes an analysis of how regulators currently work
together and provides a model memorandum of understanding that national
regulators can adopt to formalise their collaboration and interaction in view of
co-regulating the DFS marketplace.
Director of the ITU’s Standardization Bureau, Chaesub Lee stated that “Both
telecom and financial services regulators have a crucial role to play in rolling
out digital financial services that are accessible to everyone around the world.
Collaboration between the telecom and financial services regulators can
therefore ensure a conducive regulatory environment for digital financial
services to flourish.”
Sacha Polverini, Chairman of the Focus Group and Senior Programme Officer of
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor programme,
said: “Trust is an essential ingredient for digital financial services to
succeed. The move away from cash will only work if the solutions and processes
being put in place to replace it are reliable, trustable and easy to use. This
is why consumer protection is an essential part of the work we have been doing.”
Consequently the Focus Group Paper ‘Commonly
identified Consumer Protection themes for Digital Financial Services’
identifies four common themes that policy makers or regulators may want to
consider when developing laws, regulations or guidelines around consumer
protection. This includes provision of information and transparency, fraud
prevention, dispute resolution and data privacy and protection.
The Focus Group is continuing its work and will publish its next set of
research papers after its upcoming meeting in September 2016 in Tanzania
focussing on the work of the four Working Groups: DFS Ecosystem, Consumer
Experience & Protection, Interoperability and Technology, Innovation &
Competition.
Notes to the Editor
In 2014, ITU established a dedicated Focus Group incorporating 60
organizations from some 30 countries. The Focus Group has created four thematic
working groups covering the following areas: DFS ecosystem; Technology;
Innovation and Competition; Interoperability and Consumer Experience &
Protection. The group’s goal is to develop guidelines, principles and toolkits
based on international best practices, which will be adapted and implemented by
countries looking to capitalize on digital and mobile technologies in their
efforts to increase access to basic financial services for people that today
remain at the margin of society.
For more information or interviews with Mr Sacha Polverini, please
contact:
Paul Conneally
Head, Corporate Communications Division, ITU
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Marcus Pepperell
FTI Consulting
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