New powers for the Financial Ombudsman – draft amendments aimed at protecting customers of financial market entities

At the beginning of this year, information was published on the website of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister about work on a draft Act amending the Act on the handling of complaints by financial market entities, on the Financial Ombudsman and on the Financial Education Fund (draft number: UD355). The draft submitted by the Ministry of Finance and Economy is currently at the stage of public consultation and review.

New powers of the Financial Ombudsman

Among the significant changes proposed in the draft, particular attention should be paid to the extension of the scope of Article 17 of the Act on the handling of complaints by financial market entities, the Financial Ombudsman and the Financial Education Fund, to include a provision enabling the Financial Ombudsman to publish, free of charge, in the public media, announcements, warnings and other information concerning behaviours or phenomena that may pose a significant threat to customers of financial market entities.

The published information may concern phenomena occurring on the financial market that threaten the interests of customers, in particular:

• fraud on the financial market, including in particular the use of modern technologies;
• unfair sales practices;
• mis-selling of financial products;
• new financial products that may pose significant risks to their potential buyers.

This change is significant in that it enables the Financial Ombudsman to issue warnings to the public more quickly and widely, which, in an era of technological progress and expansion of the range of financial services offered, aims to ensure an effective level of protection for financial market customers.

Justification for the proposed changes

As indicated in the justification for the draft, public radio and television, as media with a wide reach, enable warning messages to be quickly communicated to citizens, which may contribute to more effective prevention of financial damage. This is particularly important for older people, for whom these media are the primary source of knowledge and information. At the same time, this solution is intended to ensure equal access to information, building citizens’ trust in the institution that protects their rights and thus strengthening the effectiveness of the Financial Ombudsman’s actions.

It is worth adding that the proposed solution is analogous to the powers vested in the Financial Supervision Authority (under the Financial Market Supervision Act) and the powers vested in the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (under the Competition and Consumer Protection Act).

Other proposed changes

At the same time, the draft amendment provides for an extension of the scope of clients and financial market entities, clarification of the regulations governing the functioning of the Financial Ombudsman’s Office, including, among others, provisions concerning the scope of assistance provided by the Financial Ombudsman, as well as changes in the scope of extrajudicial proceedings conducted by the Financial Ombudsman in the resolution of disputes between customers of financial market entities and entities on that market.

Summary

The draft amendment provides for a significant strengthening of the Financial Ombudsman’s powers to inform citizens about risks on the financial market. Granting him the right to publish warnings and announcements in the public media free of charge may increase the effectiveness of preventive measures and enable a faster response to dangerous phenomena such as fraud or unfair practices.

The proposed solution is part of a broader model of protection for financial market participants, similar to the powers vested in, among others, the Financial Supervision Authority and the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. If the draft is adopted, the Financial Ombudsman will gain a real tool that will not only allow him to respond to violations, but also to effectively prevent them through broad, publicly available information.

The questions remain, however, whether the mere possibility of publishing warnings will be enough to have a real impact on the behaviour of market participants, and whether the customers of financial market entities will respond to the messages quickly enough. Or perhaps it will be not only warnings that prove crucial, but also financial education and the building of long-term risk awareness?

Although the answers to these questions are not known at this stage, at the current stage, the extension of the Financial Ombudsman’s powers in the area of signalling and warning functions, especially in the face of numerous threats related to financial abuse, should be assessed positively.

According to published information, the planned date for the adoption of the draft by the Council of Ministers is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026. If the proposed changes come into force, it will mean that the Financial Ombudsman will gain a new tool of influence – not only through amicable and intervention proceedings, but also through public information and prevention.

Authors:

Attorney-at-law Jarosław Rudy

Advocate’s trainee Patrycja Sobań