To guide domestic banks to attach greater importance to protecting the interests of elderly financial customers, the Bankers Association of the Republic of China (BAROC) has drafted a set of "Self-Regulatory Rules for Fair Treatment by Banks of Elderly Customers," which were filed with and accepted by the FSC on 23 March 2022. These Self-Regulatory Rules were drafted with reference to the UK Financial Conduct Authority's "FG21/1 Guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers" and past supervisory experience involving dealings between banks and elderly customers.
The term "elderly customer" in these rules means "persons aged 65 or older" as defined in Article 2 of the "Senior Citizens Welfare Act." Banks will be required in the future by these self-regulatory rules to take various measures to strengthen safeguards for elderly customers. Such measures will include the following: (1) take appropriate steps to understand the banking needs of elderly customers; (2) establish a system to help elderly customers express their needs, which may include recording and inquiring into the needs of such customers; (3) establish a database for complaints filed by elderly customers, and periodically review the details of such complaints and how they were handled; (4) when providing elderly customers with trading services involving investment-type financial products, a bank must have an appropriate suitability analysis system; (5) use communication methods that elderly customers find easy to understand, and explain related information; (6) adopt standard measures that service counter personnel will follow to protect elderly customers who conduct irregular financial transactions; and (7) establish a training program to ensure that employees treat elderly customers in a friendly manner.
The FSC has granted banks a 6-month buffer period before these self-regulatory rules enter into force on 1 October 2022, and has asked them to: (a) coordinate with the self-regulatory rules by adopting their own internal operating rules; and (b) include compliance with the self-regulatory rules among the items requiring attention in their internal audits. The FSC also asked BAROC to hold informational meetings as necessary for its member banks to ensure that they properly implement the self-regulatory rules.