In September–October of the current year, the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan conducted a monitoring of the official websites of commercial banks. The main purpose of the monitoring was to assess compliance with legislative requirements on disclosure of information for financial service consumers and to ensure their right to receive complete and reliable information.
The monitoring revealed a number of shortcomings and violations.
In particular, it was found that some banks did not provide information on their websites in the state language, in violation of the requirements of the Law “On the State Language of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.
In addition, it was determined that some banks did not publish on their websites the procedure for gradually releasing collateral property, accepted as credit security, in proportion to the remaining principal debt — which is required under information disclosure regulations.
This issue was identified on the official websites of the following banks: Agrobank, Anor bank, Hayot bank, Universal bank, Garant bank, Asakabank, Turonbank, Infinbank, Mikrokreditbank, Trastbank, Madad Invest bank, Soderot bank, Orient Finans bank, Ipoteka-bank, Tenge bank, Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan, AVO bank and Open bank.
Based on the results of the monitoring, the Central Bank imposed a fine of 102 million (UZS) on each bank that committed violations, in accordance with applicable regulatory documents. The banks were also instructed to eliminate the identified shortcomings and ensure full compliance of the information published on their official websites with legislative requirements.
The Central Bank strictly requires all commercial banks to:
- fully comply with the requirements of the Law “On the State Language of the Republic of Uzbekistan” when disclosing information to consumers;
- ensure the completeness and relevance of information published on official websites;
- take into account consumers rights to receive complete, reliable, and clear information when publishing data on their official websites.
