As part of F4D’s comprehensive multi-year program in Uzbekistan, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the World Bank has been working closely with the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) to strengthen the country’s financial consumer protection regime. This initiative is essential as Uzbekistan is undergoing a major transformation in its financial sector, moving toward a more modern, private-sector-driven system with stronger regulatory oversight.

Consumer protection challenges have become more pressing as financial services expand and digital finance gains momentum. The increasing use of mobile banking, digital payments, and credit services has introduced new risks, including irresponsible lending, lack of transparency, and data protection concerns. Addressing these issues is crucial to ensuring that all consumers—especially vulnerable groups—benefit from financial sector reforms.

The F4D-funded initiative aims to align CBU’s consumer protection and market conduct supervisory framework with international best practices, improve oversight, and develop a comprehensive consumer protection regime.

The World Bank’s assessment has identified key challenges, including the need for clear mandates and holistic financial consumer protection regulation, adoption of formal market conduct supervision techniques and tools, and implementation of an effective dispute resolution mechanism that ensures consumers have accessible and fair channels to file complaints.

To address these gaps, the World Bank recommends expanding the CBU’s mandate to cover all financial service providers, implementing organizational improvements to streamline processes and ensure adequate resources, developing a structured and forward-looking supervision approach, and enhancing laws and regulations in line with international standards. The introduction of a financial ombudsperson for alternative dispute resolution, along with ongoing capacity building for financial consumer protection staff, is also recommended to ensure long-term sustainability.