Helpdesk Page

Under the FCPA¹ and the SEC FCPA IRR², financial consumers have the following rights: 

1. Right to Equitable and Fair Treatment. Financial service providers (FSPs) shall not discriminate against clients on the basis of race, age, financial capacity, ethnicity, origin, gender, disability, health condition, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or political affiliation but may provide distinction, as necessary, when making risk assessments. FSPs cannot use abusive collection or debt recovery practices.

2. Right to Disclosure and Transparency of Financial Products and Services. FSPs must use clear and concise language to ensure that all information concerning the financial product or service is accurate, updated, and understood by clients. 

3. Right to Protection of Assets against Fraud and Misuse. FSPs must establish policies and procedures to protect their financial consumers’ investments and other assets against internal or external fraud or misuse.

4. Right to Data Privacy and Protection.  FSPs must respect the privacy and protect the data of their clients, in compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012³ and such other rules and regulations issued by the National Privacy Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. To the extent allowed by law or regulation, clients have the right to review their data to ensure that inaccurate or deficient data is corrected or amended, refuse the sharing of their information to a third party, and request the removal of their data from the FSP’s system if they no longer wish to use the provider's services.

5. Right to Timely Handling and Redress of Complaints. FSPs must establish a consumer assistance mechanism to assist financial consumers on their concerns, including the handling of complaints, inquiries and requests. Financial consumers who are unsatisfied with the FSP’s handling of their complaints, inquiries and requests, may elevate their concerns to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after 30 days from the initial submission without the complaint or inquiry being resolved and within 15 days from when the consumer finds the action taken to be unsatisfactory. Concerns may also be elevated to the Capital Markets Integrity Corporation (CMIC). 

COL’s consumer assistance mechanism may be reached through helpdesk@colfinancial.com or by sending a message through https://www.facebook.com/colfinancial/ or at COL’s Contact Us page at www.colfinancial.com. 

COL is regulated by the Market and Securities Regulation Department of the SEC with email address at msrdsubmission@sec.gov.ph. 

The contact details of the CMIC may be found at https://www.cmic.com.ph/main/home.html.

¹ Republic Act No. 11765, otherwise known as “The Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act of 2022”

² SEC Memorandum Circular No. 5, series of 2023 or the “SEC Rules and Regulations of the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act of 2022” 

³ Republic Act No. 10173