Research On The Protection Of Financial Consumers’ Right To Know

As a kind of special groups of consumers, financial consumer is an elongation in financialconsumption area. In recent years, with the increasing of financial products and services, and people’sincome level, the problems related to financial consumer have become increasingly prominent andintensification, including the infraction of right to know case had frequently occurred. Unlike traditionalconsumer, the consumer finance more complex objects, including a large number of professional financialknowledge, increased between financial institutions and financial services consumer informationasymmetry problem. In some capital developed countries, such as USA, UK, EU, Japan and otherlegislation on financial consumer protection is the very place, not only to strengthen information disclosureobligations of financial services institutions, and combined with the specific circumstances of the countryto establish the financial regulatory system. At present, there is no financial consumer legislation and theconcept of the right to information about the financial consumer protection legal system is not perfect, atthe same time, there are many problems in practice, for example: some of the bank’s sales staff by hugeeconomic benefits, in the marketing of banks selling insurance on behalf of older age groups and culturalgroups tamper with the concept of limited extent, deliberately confuse the concept of savings andinsurance, to be deducted only emphasizes good insurance policy proceeds without reference to drawpremium when the value that consumers deceived. When opening an account as well as in business, thereare some fee services, such as SMS alert services, mobile banking services, financial services, financialinstitutions generally do not remind consumers to deduct these costs periodically afterwards.Although in2013the new revised "consumer rights and interests protects a law" article28in the first time in the formof law clear the financial consumers right to know, but in the face of increasingly complex financialproducts and services, from financial regulation and supervision, information disclosure system, the burdenof proof in hand, to ensure the maximization of financial consumer rights and interests. This paper fromfour aspects, analyze the protection of financial consumers’ right to know:The first part is the theory of the protection of financial consumers’ right to know. Initiated fromthe traditional concept of consumer，this part proposes the concept of financial consumer and defines it as the individual financial behavior for basic financial needs. From the content and characteristics of financialconsumers’ right to know, this part points out that financial consumers’ right to know occupies thefundamental position of financial consumers’ rights system, which guarantees the realization of other rights.Meanwhile, this part also analyzes the necessity of protecting the financial consumers’ right to know frompointing out the monopoly position of financial institutions and the serious information asymmetry betweenthem and financial consumers.The second part is the status quo of China’s financial legislation to protect consumers’ right toknow and problems. Analysis of the banking, securities, insurance and other areas of legislation concerningthe protection of financial consumers ’right to know, although the revised "Consumer Protection Law" toprotect financial consumers’ right to play a positive role, but there are still threats to financial consumersright objective factors to achieve.The third part is developed extraterritorial legislation on the protection of financial consumers’right to know. Mainly introduced through the United States, Britain, Japan and other national legal systemsrelating to financial consumer protection right through meticulous combing and comparison gives someenlightenment to improve our financial consumer right protection.Including a clear concept of financialconsumers, the creation of a unified financial legislation, such as changes in the financial regulatoryphilosophy, indeed guarantee the realization of financial consumers’ right to know.The fourth part is the right proposals to improve the protection of financial consumers. The faceof the financial sector against financial consumer spending appears to know that we can reasonably drawon the experience of capital in developed countries to protect financial consumers right to know, from thespecific system of financial supervision model, the information disclosure system, judicial remedies, etc.,gradually improve consumers’ right to protect our financial system.