Lukashenko comments on financial consultants’ activities
A meeting of the President of Belarus with the leadership of the Council of Ministers tackled a draft decree on the creation of a full-fledged institution for financial consulting of the population
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that there is a need to thoroughly deal with various kinds of consultants, “With complete impunity, unscrupulous brokers (people have already nicknamed them ‘black’ and ‘grey’) cash in on the elderly and even on quite progressive youth.”
The Head of State is not against the creation of an institution for financial consulting of the population but demanded to report in detail: how it is proposed to regulate this area and what guarantees a person receives when turning to financial consultants. According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, such services should be provided free of charge.
“We are building a state for the people. We did this free of charge back in Soviet times and still do it on some issues. Banks are interested in this in order to issue loans,” the President underlined.
In the meantime, dishonest mediation is widespread in this area. Aleksandr Lukashenko gave the following example, “Pensioners from Brest planned to take a loan and build a country house. They turned to an intermediary, who convinced them that without a ‘consultant’ the bank would not give money, but for the so-called ‘assistance’ they had to pay Br1,000. They came to the bank and did everything without any intermediaries. So, these swindlers began to extort money for a ‘service’, which actually did not exist. The pensioners were so much scared that they even took the received loan back to the bank. Who do we offend? The police can’t help either because everything is done in line with the contract. That is, they take money from people for printing out information from the Internet, which is available to everyone without them. Then they suggest signing a one-sided contract for their pseudo-services.”
According to the President, the most outrageous is that, while lining their pockets, they do not bear any responsibility and do not guarantee that the banking product they have selected will actually be available to those who contacted them, “There are situations when a person – having paid a considerable amount for such a consultation – goes to the bank, confident that he will now receive a loan. But he is refused because banks have their own procedure and requirements. As a result, a person is left without money, and even at a loss. It’s total disorder.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko also asked how it is proposed to regulate this area, “What kind of guarantees does a person get when turning to financial consultants? Most importantly, if they exist, they need to be made to work for free. The National Bank should be responsible for this, so that, firstly, they work, and secondly, there is no such ‘cash grab’.”
Another question from the President: will people receive advice on the entire spectrum of financial products and will banks charge money for advice on their products, which is now completely free?
