The concept of financial protection, financial crises, and developments in the protection of financial consumers in Turkey

The extend of protection of financial consumers, who are the main actors of the financial ecosystem and their role in the face of financial institutions which bring operability to the system has become an important issue as a result of negative local and global developments. In this context; first, consumer and financial consumer concepts are explained and then the need for protection of financial consumers is addressed. The historical development phenomenon of consumer protection and local developments are explained and the developments in the global context are also briefly mentioned. Main crises are mentioned and especially within the context of 2007 crisis, the issue of how financial consumers in the local and global financial markets are affected has been discussed. The new regulations introduced by the Law No. 6502 on Consumer Protection, and the structure and role of some of the leading regulatory and supervisory agencies that are responsible for protection of financial consumers in Turkey are also mentioned. This study first enlightened theoretically, and then examined in 4 dimensions by interviewing 10 people who are expert in their field of study. By trying to shed light on the level of consciousness of the financial consumer, the issue of effectiveness of legal and administrative regulations on protection of financial consumers has been evaluated, solution methods of problems encountered by consumers evaluated, and enhancing qualified workforce within the scope of the financial system constitutes the scope of the research has been established. Finally, in this thesis, answers to the following problems has been searched and suggestions were made about systematics: Due to the insufficient awareness of financial consumers in Turkey, there is no doubt that it is necessary to enhance this awareness by singular and/or common studies at local and national level, on a basis of government, private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Protection of financial consumer subject to presence of disordered structure in terms of administrative and legal point of view needed the establishment of an effective roofing institution and the establishment of a special law as well. As solution mechanisms are inadequate, when consumers encounter problems while performing financial operations, it is necessary for the government and financial institutions to constitute an efficient system, as this issue is very important for survival of financial system. Considering the need for increasing human resources quality in terms of financial services; public sector, universities, private sector and NGOs's tendency to increase personnel and consumers education level will clearly bring standardization.