Georgian central bank issues new transparency requirements for financial organisations

With the involvement of experts from the World Bank, the national bank of Georgia has developed new transparency requirements for financial organisations operating in the country in a bid to ensure transparency of prices of financial products sold in combination and encourage competition in the market, the NBG said on Tuesday.

The requirements apply to commercial banks and branches of foreign banks operating in Georgia, as well as microfinance organisations, non-bank depository institutions - credit unions and lending entities - and will enter into force on March 1, 2023, the NBG said.

According to the amendment, when offering financial products to consumers in combination, financial organisations must ensure that the price of each financial product included in the offer is transparently indicated and properly disclosed to consumers. 

In particular, financial organisations must indicate and provide information to the customer about the sales prices assigned to the financial product within the combined offer, and the financial product as an independent product", the NBG said.

The central bank said the change would enable customers to have the opportunity to compare financial products offered by one or several financial organisations for making informed decisions.