YEREVAN, JANUARY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. A Financial Ombudsman Office, so far the only one in the CIS, will function in Armenia starting from January 24. The Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Arthur Javadian said at the January 23 press coference that this is a great achievement for Armenia as such offices work mostly in developed countries. In his words, with the introduction of the institution of financial ombudsman, the society's trust in the financial system of Armenia will increase. The purpose of establishing this office is to accept and examine complaints of consumers and solve disputes between financial institutions and consumers. The Office will provide free services to consumers who may file their complaints to the financial ombudsman only after failing to reach a reconciliation with the given financial institution. In case of disagreeing with the decision of the financial ombudsman, consumers may dispute it in a court which is not permissible for financial institutions that must obey the ombudsman's decision. Only natural persons may apply to the financial ombudsman. Complaints may be filed only with respect to such deals that do not exceed 10 million drams (about 33 thousand dollars). The work of the Financial Ombudsman Office will be financed only by financial institutions. The member of the CBA Board Grigor Donjeyan was elected the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Financial Ombudsman Office. Piruza Sargsyan was elected the Financial Ombudsman. The Board of Trustees is composed of 6 members elected from state and private organizations.

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