ArmInfo.Advertising of financial intermediaries will be banned in Armenia. At its meeting on April 19, the Armenian parliament, in its first reading, adopted a legislative initiative of the "Bright Armenia" faction, providing for amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses.
According to NA MP from the Bright Armenia faction, Mane Tandilyan, recently, in social networks, the media, on the streets and squares, there has been an increase in activity and advertising of services for allegedly rendering assistance or support in financial services, in particular, on the issue of loans. At the same time, intermediaries require 25-30% of the total loan amount for their services.
As a result, the citizens of the country are faced with the problem of repaying already expensive loans. And this is while the citizens themselves have the opportunity to directly contact commercial banks or credit organizations. According to the MP, the bill proposes to limit the advertising of these organizations, and in case of violation of this requirement, apply an administrative fine.
The amount of the fine, as explained Tandilyan, will be determined by the decision of the government. "During a recent government meeting, for example, there was a proposal in case of violation of this requirement in relation to the violator to apply a fine of 2,000 times the minimum wage, and in case of repeated violation, 4,000 times the minimum wage, and I absolutely support this initiative, "said Mane Tandilyan. She also stressed that legal entities and companies that provide this kind of "dubious" services have nothing to do with the banking sector and often abuse the trust of citizens. Banks, according to the lawmaker, may well provide citizens with all the necessary information and significantly more qualitatively than this kind of "financial intermediaries". "For their services, these organizations are asking for incredible money. Thus, a citizen who collaborates with such organizations that provide alleged financial services and act as intermediaries, and who plans to receive a loan of 1 million drams, ultimately due to an excessively high interest on the loan will have to pay 1 million 300 thousand drams, "explained Mane Tandilyan, adding that such manipulations cause significant damage to the financial and social well-being of citizens. To recall, at the March 21 government meeting, Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Artur Javadyan stressed that the structure he heads fully supports the draft law. At the same time, the Central Bank considers it necessary to make changes concerning not only advertising, but also non- licensed activities.
According to Artur Javadyan, the applied penalty of 40 thousand drams does not reflect the existing state of affairs, since people illegally carrying out such activities receive several dozen times more money from the operation alone. He also reported on the initiation of several criminal cases against a number of individuals. The head of the Central Bank also reported on ongoing programs aimed at improving the financial literacy of citizens. Currently, work is underway with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, in the framework of which 12,000 teachers have completed training courses. The country began a month to improve financial literacy, during which conferences, seminars and round tables will be held in various regions of the country. Similar seminars are already being held at the Central Bank itself. Work begins with television channels and other media.