narrow list of complaints to which banks and insurance companies have agreed. in thinking about the statutory backing for the ombudsman ’ s office, it may be necessary to have a flexible legal framework where the foundations are enshrined in law, but scope and operational arrangements are set in regulations. independent governance is a second, critical design issue. ideally, the office of the financial services ombudsman should be independent of consumers and of the financial services industry, whose disputes are being handled. in deciding cases, the ombudsman also needs to be independent of the central bank, because the ombudsman is acting as an alternative to the courts. so it is helpful for the ombudsman office to have an independent board, with a balanced membership reflecting persons with an understanding of regulation, the financial industry and consumer protection. a third design issue revolves around the coverage of financial businesses. a significant number of complaints received by the ombudsman are outside its terms of reference. the office received 409 banking complaints which were outside its terms of reference in 2003 – 2012, 179 more than the qualified banking complaints it received for review. in 2011 – 2012, the office received 1, 173 enquiries regarding complaints outside the banking and insurance sectors. many complaints which fall outside the ombudsman ’ s terms of reference relate to bank fees and pricing of bank products and services, lapsed insurance policies, insurance premium charged, personal injury for motor vehicle accidents, credit union shares and loans, and general pain and suffering. expanding the ombudsman ’ s mandate to include credit unions, the unit trust corporation, pension schemes and mutual funds would go a long way in strengthening the credibility of the scheme. finally, in order to deliver on this expanded mandate the ofso would need to be better resourced with the skill sets and talent as its jurisdiction and workload grows. the staff complement in the ombudsman ’ s office are currently seconded from, or approved by, the central bank. once a statutory financial services ombudsman is established the ombudsman would appoint the staff who would work for the scheme and not be seconded from the central bank. the central bank and the ofso will be reviewing the draft report. once finalized and accepted, the final report will form the basis for a proposed policy document ( ppd ) on upgrading the regime of financial consumer protection. the ppd will serve as the starting point for initial discussions and

that we hear a lot about but very little and sustainable consumer education and financial literacy programs have been carried out. whilst we can say that we have a high literacy rate in fiji, financial literacy in itself, however, is not very high. the bulk of the population in fiji, in fact are financially illiterate. financial institutions must ensure that they carry out consumer education programs. consumers must know very clearly the financial products and services on offer, what these are intended for and their advantages and disadvantages. consumers must be made aware of all bank fees and charges and options available in financial products. consumer education will help consumers make the right choices. the legal cliche of “ let the buyer beware ” is not just the responsibility of the consumer but it is very much that of the financial institutions who are issuing the financial services and products. a well - designed consumer education program helps minimize or removes possible customer complaints. the reserve bank has drawn up a public awareness program on financial literacy so as to assist in the education and financial literacy of fiji consumers. we intend to engage in discussions with key stakeholders such as commercial banks, donor agencies, nongovernment organizations and others from the private sector over the coming months. this program is expected to be rolled out by the middle of this year. in this regard, we had convened the first meeting of the national task force committee on financial inclusion. a subcommittee of this task force has been formed known as the financial literacy subcommittee and their responsibility is to drive a financial literacy program throughout fiji. it is intended that financial literacy be taken through the education curriculum in fiji both at the primary and secondary school level. let me now turn to what the reserve bank has done with regards to the management of consumer complaints and the steps taken to ensure that consumer complaints are addressed. the reserve bank has set up a complaints unit within the bank for addressing consumer issues and complaints within the financial system in fiji. on 1st january this year, the reserve bank issued a policy guideline to the commercial banks and licensed credit institutions on complaints management. the policy ensures that commercial banks and licensed credit institutions put in place processes and procedures that will enable the effective and efficient management of complaints by the public. the banks and licensed credit institutions are encouraged to conduct public awareness about their complaints management processes. the reserve bank encourages the consumers to raise their complaints with the commercial banks and licensed credit institutions. where consumers are not satisfied with the outcome of their complaints with the financial institutions, they should raise these concerns directly