TUAC NEWS
TUAC & UNI make joint contribution to OECD work on credit and mortgage-related financial education
Joint submission to the OECD public consultation on a draft Guidelines for credit and mortgage-related financial education
25/01/2009
- 0901t_gf_educreditpdf
The OECD and its Committee on Financial Markets held a public consultation on a set of best practices for financial education related to credit. Attachment includes the joint submission by TUAC & UNI including comments and specific proposals of amendments based on the following concerns:
- Financial education should protect against abusive and predatory sales practices, not just against individuals’ own “bad credit behaviour”;
- Credit providers’ remuneration structure, working environment and sales policies should be consistent with financial education objectives and be conducive to delivering advice in the interest of customers only;
- Financial education should address customers’ rights to recourse and to redress;
- Financial education should be delivered free of conflict of interest;
- Issues related to public accountability, regulation and public enforcement and multinational entities should feature more strongly in the text;
- Consumer groups, trade unions and independent NGOs deserve better recognition in delivering financial education; and finally
- OECD guidance work on financial education should be shared with other forae, including the ILO and the FSF, as well as with the two official advisory bodies to the OECD.