RBZ to set up public protector office

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe will set up the Office of Financial Public Protector to resolve disputes against financial institutions and their customers, according to the Banking Amendment Bill.

This comes amid concerns over the period it takes to resolve disputes in the financial services sector before the courts of law.

The Banking Amendment Bill gazetted recently says that the Office of the Financial Public Protector shall attempt to resolve disputes by negotiation, mediation, conciliation or determination, as may be appropriate in each particular case but in all cases the procedures adopted by the office shall be informal, fair and cost-effective.

Funding of the office will be provided by the RBZ while the service provided by the office will be free to the customers whose disputes with financial institutions are dealt with by the office.

The new office will consist of a board, a panel of financial protectors and the chief Financial Public Protector.