The CNB establishes a Consumer Protection Department

The CNB Bank Board has decided to establish a Consumer Protection Department with effect from 1 September 2008 and has delegated the task of overseeing it to Chief Executive Director and Bank Board Member Eva Zamrazilová. The Executive Director of the new department will be Ms Helena Kolmanová, who was appointed on the basis of a selection procedure.

Under an amendment to the Consumer Protection Act, the CNB has been entrusted with powers and supervision of compliance with certain obligations in the consumer protection area in the segment of entities that it regulates.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, the CNB has been entrusted with powers and supervision in the area of:

• prohibition of unfair commercial practices (Article 4) in the provision or offering of services, including misleading commercial practices (Article 5) and aggressive commercial practices (Article 5a);
• prohibition of consumer discrimination (Article 6);
• supervision of the provision of proper information about the prices of services provided and the setting thereof (Article 12).

Under the Civil Code, the CNB has also been entrusted with powers and supervision in the area of remote conclusion of financial services agreements (Article 54a in particular).

Supervision of compliance with the consumer protection rules by non-regulated financial market participants, such as non-bank providers of loans and financial services, leasing companies, mortgage advisers and licensed electronic money issuers, is performed by the Czech Business Inspection.

Helena Kolmanová graduated from the Faculty of Law at Charles University in Prague and undertook “Europeum” postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University. From 1978 to 1989 she worked in the Documentary Payments and Guarantees Department and the Import Financing Department at Československá obchodní banka in Prague. From 1989 to 1993 she worked first as a representative and then as head of the Austrian Raiffeisen Zentralbank AG representation in Prague. From 1993 to 1998 she worked at Živnostenská banka, first as Director of Business Financing and Documentary Payments and from 1996 as Senior Director of Corporate Financing for Czech Businesses. In 2001 she joined the Banking Regulation and Supervision Department at the CNB, which she left in April 2006 to work at the Czech Banking Association, where she held the post of chief lawyer and coordinator of the Legal Committee, where she was in charge of professional and organizational management. Her tasks there included monitoring proposed legislation and preparing and discussing comments thereon, monitoring relevant EU legislative activities and transferring them to the CBA, membership of the European Banking Federation Legal Committee, and drafting legal opinions. Ms Kolmanová has undertaken numerous fellowships and training courses in foreign central and commercial banks. She speaks English, German and some French.

Pavlína Bolfová
CNB spokesperson