On April 4, 2024, Lyudmyla Usatiuk, a partner of Investment Lawyers Group, who for a long time was the head of the legal department of a commercial bank, held a webinar on "Practical issues of protecting the rights of citizens in relations with banks" for 3rd year bachelor's degree students majoring in 081 "Law" and postgraduate students of different years of study in the field of knowledge 08 "Law".
The event was held as part of additional classes for students studying the discipline "Financial Law" and postgraduate students "Topical Issues of Legal Regulation and Protection of Public Finances".
"During the period of martial law in the country, the National Bank of Ukraine took over the functions of the banking sector regulator and became the main supervisory structure for the protection of citizens' rights in banking services. The state of regulatory regulation of the rights of individuals is such that we can talk about 80% protection of the rights of citizens in relations with banks. However, strict regulation of consumer loans makes it uneconomical for banks to provide such services due to the activities of the Regional Consumer Protection Department," said Ms. Liudmyla.
During the meeting, the speaker described the legislation of the EU countries on the policy of information transparency in terms of the quality of financial services and the guarantee of the return of citizens' deposits, highlighting the positive aspects of Ukrainian legislation. The speaker emphasized the urgent need to expand educational programs on financial literacy for the population and future lawyers.
"The court practice is on the side of individuals, which leads to a stronger discipline in providing quality financial services to the population. Today, wide access to information on the activities of joint-stock commercial banks, the Open Data policy, standardization of public offer agreements, and the policy of deposit insurance in the Deposit Guarantee Fund contribute to the transparency of the banking system," the speaker noted.
A fruitful discussion ensued during the meeting, and the students received answers to numerous questions and practical advice on using banking services.
The event and the interest of the participants in the topics discussed inspired the members of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of the Law Faculty to revise the educational and scientific program "Law" of the third (educational and scientific) level of higher education in the content part of the elective components and to amend the working curriculum in the discipline "Financial Law".