Complaints, Financial Supervisory Authority and appeals bodies
What happens when a customer is dissatisfied with your advice
No financial employee wants to get a complaint but it happens — and it is important to know the system around complaints so you know how to respond and why your documentation means so much.
§The role of the Financial Supervisory Authority
The Financial Supervisory Authority is the public authority that supervises banks, mortgage institutions, insurance companies and other financial companies. The Financial Supervisory Authority does not deal with an individual customer's specific dispute with their bank, but supervises that companies comply with the law — for example rules on good practice, capital requirements and anti-money laundering prevention.
§The company's own complaint process comes first
If a customer is dissatisfied, they should first complain to the company itself. Only if the customer receives a refusal, an unsatisfactory answer, or no answer at all within five weeks, can the matter be taken to an independent complaints body. It is therefore crucial that your workplace has a proper, transparent complaints process and that you yourself take a complaint seriously from the first contact.
§The Financial Complaints Board
The Financial Complaints Board handles complaints from private customers about banks, mortgage credit institutions and investment associations. When a case is fully informed, the board aims to reach a decision within 90 days, but the average processing time is typically longer. The board's decisions are often followed by the companies, although the parties can ultimately always choose to take the matter to the courts.
§What it means for your daily work
- 01A good case note is not just practical — it becomes your most important evidence if a case is appealed.
- 02Always be honest and transparent about advantages, disadvantages and costs — that is the best prevention against complaints
- 03Involve your manager early if a customer signals dissatisfaction – the sooner, the better the matter can be resolved internally
§A complaint can also be learning
Although a complaint feels unpleasant it is also an opportunity to become sharper as an adviser. Use decisions from the Financial Appeals Board — many are publicly available — as a source to understand where the limits of good advice go in practice.