This figure exists in some countries as a customer ombudsman to defend customers from banks. Some doubts persist about how to transfer this figure to the free world of cryptocurrencies.
Nadia Calviño, The Minister of the Economic of Spain, serves as a leader of a regulatory initiative to create the «Financial Customer Defender,» which intends to expand it to the world of cryptocurrencies even if the nature of this technology might prevent it.
The draft of the Spanish law prepared by the Ministry focuses on turning on the European Union’s legislative project on cryptocurrencies, MiCA, an acronym for “Markets in Crypto-assets,” which excludes digital currencies issued by central banks in Europe.
According to sources from the web newspaper La Información, the Bank of Spain, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the Ministry of Economy, and the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds (DGSFP), are joining forces to impulse this legal proposal.
The Financial Customer Ombudsman would assume these bodies’ current powers to intercede in cases where the customer needs a representation to face a financial institution.
This portal’s sources indicate that the banks will have to assume costs for the damages suffered by their clients up to 30,000 euros (EUR), although this confirmation remains unclear. The amount could surpass 30,000 euros.
How Far Do the Responsibility of the User and the Role of the Financial Institution go?
However, the scope of this law and how they are planning to apply it remains unclear too. The events that occur in the world of cryptocurrencies sometimes can’t be fixed, as well as they do not always directly involve financial entities.
In this way, several questions could invade the roundtable: How far do the user’s responsibility and the financial institution’s role go? Why does a bank have to assume the damages that its clients suffer on other platforms?
The Ministry could gain the ability to launch a public consultation regarding this law as soon as it can. It should be essential to consider that the financial customer advocate’s role also applies to other services that don’t relate to cryptocurrencies.
Will they Include Fraudulent Investment Pyramid Schemes and Referral systems?
On the other hand, it is also worth asking: will they include fraudulent investment pyramid schemes and referral systems?
According to the same portal (La Información), these answers are pending, although the banks are not happy with this idea.
According to a report by a consulting firm named “Oliver Wyman,” the media adds that banks would have to assume 2.4 billion euros a year to facilitate the resolution of financial conflicts if this legislation is approved.
In Spain, organizations such as the CNMV seek to implement more effective regulations on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. One of these regulations might be the supervision they wish to implement in advertisements.
By: Jenson Nuñez
