# **Table of Contents**

|Foreword ................................................................................................................... ii|
|---|
|Abbreviations & Acronyms ..................................................................................... iii|
|Acknowledgments .................................................................................................... iv|
|Executive Summary ................................................................................................... 1|
|Key Recommendations .............................................................................................. 3|
|_Institutional Structures ............................................................................................................................. 3_|
|_Consumer Disclosure ............................................................................................................................... 3_|
|_Business Practices .................................................................................................................................... 3_|
|_Complaints & Dispute Resolution ............................................................................................................ 4_|
|_Financial Literacy & Education ............................................................................................................... 5_<br>|
|Introduction ................................................................................................................ 6|
|Background ................................................................................................................ 9|
|International Benchmarks for Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy .......... 14|
|Key Issues & Lessons Learned ................................................................................ 17|
|_Institutional Structures ........................................................................................................................... 17_|
|_Consumer Disclosure ............................................................................................................................. 19_|
|_Business Practices .................................................................................................................................. 21_|
|_Complaints & Dispute Resolution .......................................................................................................... 27_|
|_Financial Literacy & Education ............................................................................................................. 31_|
|Future Work ............................................................................................................. 35|
|Annex: Special Issues by Financial Sector Segment ............................................... 38|
|_Credit Institutions ................................................................................................................................... 38_|
|_Insurance ................................................................................................................................................ 39_|
|_Securities ................................................................................................................................................ 40_|
|_Private Pensions ..................................................................................................................................... 41_|
|_Protection of Credit Data ....................................................................................................................... 42_|
|Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 44|

## **Tables**

|Table 1: Areas of Major Consumer Protection Concern by Level of Financial Sector Development .... 14|
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|Table 2: Financial Consumer Protection: Who is Responsible? .............................................................. 17|
|Table 3: Levels of Consumer Disclosure ................................................................................................. 21|
|Table 4: Codes of Conduct ...................................................................................................................... 24|
|Table 5: Modes of Distribution of Financial Products and Services ....................................................... 25|
|Table 6: Compensation Schemes for Depositors, Investors and Policyholders ....................................... 27|
|Table 7: Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution Systems ................................................................................ 29|
|Table 8: Cross-Country Comparisons of the Costs of Going to Court .................................................... 30|
|Table 9: Levels of Recourse Mechanisms ............................................................................................... 31|
|Table 10: National Financial Education Programs .................................................................................. 32|
|Table 11: Levels of Financial Education ................................................................................................. 35|

### **Figures**

|Figure 1: Household Debt in Europe and Central Asia ............................................................................. 6|
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|Figure 2: Remittances in Europe and Central Asia ................................................................................... 7|

### **Boxes**

Box 1: Insights from the Country Studies ........................................................................... 10 Box 2: Financial Literacy Survey in Russia ............................................................................................ 34