KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Securities Commission (SC) will establish an integrated dispute resolution scheme (IDRS) to be known as the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service (FMOS) for the financial and capital market sector.
In a written response posted on Parliament’s website, the Finance Ministry (MOF) said IDRS will be established in 2025 via a merger between the Ombudsman for Financial Services (OFS) and the Securities Industry Dispute Resolution Centre (SIDREC), offering alternative dispute resolution services for the capital market sector under SC regulation.
IDRS aims to increase the level of effectiveness of dispute resolution for the financial consumer and investor.
According to the ministry, the merger is expected to increase the operational synergy of the scheme while ensuring that the resolution process is made easier, smoother and free. This will contribute to the government’s efforts to protect the rights of those using financial institutions and its failure to raise public confidence in the Malaysian financial system.
MOF said OFS resolved nearly 32,000 disputes free of charge in 19 years. In 2023 alone, OFS received 1,246 disputes, with 62% of them related to the banking industry and 33% to the insurance and takaful industry.
— BERNAMA
