Parliament approves bills on protection of rights of financial services consumers and improvement of financial restructuring procedure

The Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading bills "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Protection of Rights of Financial Service Consumers", "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Improvement of the Procedure of Financial Restructuring".

Adoption of the Bill “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Protection of Consumers of Financial Services” is one of the points of cooperation with the IMF envisaged under the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policy within the framework of the Stand-By Program. It regulates the powers of public authorities and the principles of protection of the rights of financial services consumers and determines the responsibility of financial institutions for the violation of such rights.

The document also eliminates the shortcomings of current legislation and creates a unified approach to calculating the total cost of a consumer loan and calculating the real annual interest rate. Once the law is passed, the state will be able to respond promptly to violations of the rights of citizens who have become consumers of financial services and to prosecute unscrupulous companies.

The Bill "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Improvement of the Procedure of Financial Restructuring" provides for a joint financial restructuring procedure for several debtors who are related parties but have different creditors.

The bill also provides for a six-year extension of the Law of Ukraine "On Financial Restructuring".

Implementation of the Law will reduce regulatory obstacles to the financial restructuring of the financial obligation and business activities of debtors, and facilitate the full implementation of restructuring by banks.