Coordinating Minister Airlangga Appreciated The Implementation Of The Financial Services Sector's 'Market Conduct'

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto appreciated the implementation of market conduct or market conduct in the financial services sector which is expected to protect the public as consumers, according to the Financial Services Authority Regulation (POJK) Number 6/POJK.07/2022. "The POJK 6 also embodies consumer protection with an emphasis on compliance with financial service actors by fulfilling adequate educational principles, information transparency, fair treatment, responsible business actors, asset protection and consumer data, as well as effective complaint handling. As previously submitted, complaints continued to increase to more than 130 thousand," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga at a face-to-face event with the President Director of the Financial Services Sector regarding the Implementation of Market Products in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Thursday, July 7. Implementation of market conduct provisions, in addition to tying financial service actors, must also be equipped with an increase in understanding of potential consumers related to the risks of financial products or services. Coordinating Minister Airlangga conveyed that based on the results of the National Literacy and Financial Inclusion Survey, the Financial Literacy Index is still at 38 percent and the Financial Inclusion Index at 76.19 percent. This, he continued, illustrates that the Indonesian people do not fully understand and fully the various financial products and services offered by financial institutions. "In fact, financial literacy is important for the community and is also important for empowerment, welfare, protection, and increasing financial inclusion itself," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga. Meanwhile, he continued, there are still challenges related to high-profile processes such as the Jiwasraya, Asabri, Bumiputera cases, and Ponzi investment schemes, which still require further completion. "Of course all forms of violations or misappropriation, either by brokers, insurance agents, stock manipulation, or unitlink, which have caused a lot of harm to consumers, must be a special concern and of course this greatly disrupts the integrity and trust of the financial sector," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga. Regarding literacy, the Chairman of the OJK Board of Commissioners, Wimboh Santoso, assessed that the increase in consumer literacy in the financial services sector was not immediately the responsibility of the regulator, but was a joint task of all parties, especially financial services actors. "The implementation of the financial education program is a synergy between all stakeholders and is carried out systematically, structured, and continuously," he said. In the future, he continued, OJK will issue again provisions related to the implementation of the financial literacy program to support the government's achievement of the government's target of the Financial Inclusion Index of 90 percent by 2024. Activities to increase financial literacy and financial inclusion must be carried out every year by financial services actors and separate from marketing activities and reported to regulators. "The financial education program does not only include characteristics and the benefits of products and/or financial services but also includes risks, access and handling complaints and dispute resolution. This is to achieve consumer protection goals that not only increase literacy but also benefit the community's welfare," said Wimboh.