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Financial
Watchdog This article is courtesy of the GUADALAJARA REPORTER, a weekly English-language newspaper covering national, regional and local news in. Please visit their online newspaper at: www.guadalajarareporter.com
If you have a complaint against a Mexican bank, insurance company, stockbroker, investment house, exchange house or retirement fund, go to CONDUSEF for arbitration. It won't cost you a penny, and 8 out of 10 cases are won by the complainants. Complaints are to be filed with the Jalisco branch of CONDUSEF - the Comision Nacional para la Protecion y Defensa de los Usarios de Servicios Financieros or the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services. CONDUSEF'S main function is to hear and resolve complaints filed against legally registered banks, insurance companies, stock brokerages, investment houses, exchange houses and retirement funds. There are an estimated 1,100 institutions with 7,000 branches throughout Mexico. "Anyone who has a doubt, concern, complaint about any financial product or service may come to our office in Guadalajara for a consultation," says Arturo Robles Grey, CONDUSEF delegate for the state of Jalisco. "For example, if someone wants to know what are the correct interest rates a bank should be charging on their credit card, we can inform them. Or if a person has doubts about the details of an investment account, mortgage or insurance policy we can help." The majority of complaints are directed toward banks and have to do with phantom debit and credit card charges and problems with ATM machines, Robles says. The next most common gripe is nonconformity with offers of reparition made by car and medical insurance companies, as well as delays in payment.
Effective
Agency After reviewing each individual case, CONDUSEF operates much like PROFECO, bringing the complainant and the legal representatives of the financial institution to the negotiating table to hammer out an agreement. Disputes are resolved at this stage in 95 percent of cases, says Robles. If the sides cannot reach a settlement, the case will go to arbitration, in which both sides must present evidence, as in a court case. CONDUSEF will hand down a ruling one way or another within eight months, Robles says. CONDUSEF does not charge for its services. Meetings between parties are scheduled within one month of the complaint being filed, and no lawyers need to be involved, Robles says.
Complaint
Procedure "This should be a simple explanation, Roble says. "For example it might say, I am making this complaint against such and such, insurance company because they have not paid me after I made a claim, or refused to resolve the problem and kept stalling me. Copies of any documents, policies, account statements and contracts to back up the case should also be provided. Non Spanish speakers are advised to bring a translator. CONDUSEF will carefully review each case presented, and weed out those in which the "fine print" on policies and contracts has evidently not been read. Cases demonstrating even the slightest evidence that the client of the financial institution has a valid claim will go to conciliation.
Financial
institutions that ignore citations to attend conciliation sessions with their
clients face fines between If a financial institution refuses to reimburse their client after an arbitration ruling goes against it (this happens in very few cases, says Robles), CONDUSEF will gladly furnish the civil courts with documentation of its investigation and, occasionally, provide one of their lawyers to pursue the case free of charge. Robles says that when there is a fusion or take over of two institutions (such as the buyout of Banca Promex by Bancomer), the new owners assume all responsibility for errors committed by the company being taken over. Robles says CONDUSEF will follow up in all cases involving Mexican financial institutions, even if the company in question argues the problem lies with an institution in a foreign country. This means that all international wire transfers between Mexico and abroad enter into CONDUSEF'S domain. Another major part of CONDUSEF'S says Robes, is to develop a keener awareness among the Mexican population on financial matters. To achieve this aim, the organization publishes a monthly magazine called Proteje Su Dinero (Protect Your Money), which explains important aspects of financial management and related systems. One duty of the magazine is to publish comparison charts showing the number of times financial institutions have been cited by CONDUSEF, as well as the range of interest rates charged by all credit card companies operating in Mexico.
CONDUSEF is
located at Avenida Lopez Cotilla 2032, Colona Arcos Sur, half a block from the
Centro Magno Mall in Guadalajara. CONDUSEF has offices in all 32 states capitals of Mexico. Members of the public can also get in touch with CONDUSEF on the Internet at www.condusef.gob.mx
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