The Financial Ombudsman

Abstract

The hereby submitted article deals with the Financial Arbiter (Ombudsman) and the payment systems
regulation in the Czech Republic. The article focuses mainly on the proceeding before the Czech Financial
Arbiter. However, the author also deals with the Financial Ombudsmen in Europe, especially those who are
the members of FIN-NET (the Cross-Border Out-of-Court Complaints Network for Financial Services).
The legal regulation this work describes covers up (between others) the Payment Systems Act and the
Act on the Financial Arbiter, both effective from 1 January 2003. These acts were adopted by the Czech
Parliament under the harmonization of the Czech law with the European Community law standards, e.g.
with the European Community Directive No. 97/5/EC, on cross-boarder transfers, which requires the possibility
for consumers to settle disputes in an efficient and appropriate manner with transfer institutions
through out-of-court procedures.