Evolving Financial Consumer Protection Standards in Columbia: Issues for Legal Counsels

Antonio Núñez, General Counsel, Citibank, Colombia

In Colombia, banking has never been just another line of business activity. It has historically been classed as a public service, which has given rise to numerous forms of intervention by public authorities in the activities of banks. This article reviews the evolution of this intervention, which has moved from restrictive regulations enacted to conscript banks into fulfilling public sector expectations to the rise of a strong consumer rights movement endowed with powerful legal tools to make itself heard. It also refers to the role of bank in-house legal counsels in minimizing the downside for banks.

Antonio José Núñez obtained his degree in law from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (1989). He also holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School (1990) and an MBA from Insead (1998) as well as degrees in Insurance law from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (1992) and Finance from Universidad de los Andes (1995). He has worked with the Colombian Ministries of Finance and Justice, the Colombian Foreign Trade Bank (Bancoldex), Accenture and the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá. He is currently the Legal Vicepresident of Citibank-Colombia. He has been a lecturer at Universidad Externado de Colombia and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana since 1992 and has published several books, the most recent of which is "Diálogo sobre la Crisis Financiera", with ex-Minister of Finance Juan Camilo Restrepo.

Citibank-Colombia was established in Colombia in 1929, and now has a consumer and corporate customer base of more than 200,000 individual accounts and almost 2,000 companies. Our 3,700 employees proudly serve their local communities every day in each of the businesses, which include corporate and personal banking, retirement services, investment banking, and treasury.