Our government calls for a public comment regarding the draft of the Consumer Safety Law and relating regulation. It is in terms of jurisdiction of the Consumer Agency: concerning law for founding the agency already were passed on the diet on 29th March 2009 and the agency will start to work on this September.
However, the draft does not describe an investment injury as a consumer detriment, therefore the agency will not regulate the injury. Probably, the government may think those injuries are treated by the jurisdictional ministries: securities trouble is through FSA and futures is through METI and AFM.
However, I cannot agree with this proposal.
First of all, it is recognized generally that the injury over these financial services injury detriment is regarded as a consumer detriment. Those detriment show a large share of consumer injuries. If the agency does not treat those fields, the role of the agency shall be diminished.
Secondary, a consumer detriment in those fields shall be solved more efficiently, if the agency regulate it. Whilst these ministries have been playing their role in consumer protection, the consumer protection may be restricted by the demand of feeding their jurisdictional business sectors. The Consumer Agency has not jurisdictional business sectors; the aim of the agency is mainly to protect consumers. It can be expected that consumer protection may improve in these fields more and more, if the agency has a jurisdiction.
Categories: authority, agency · enactment
Akita prefecture was about to revice an ordinance regarding door step selling, prohibiting the cold calling. But the government faced a stiff resistance by business sectors, therefore it decided to passe over the revision of the ordinance. However, some memebers of lawmaker in the prefecture do not let go of the law refom. Jiji Press reported it on 4th July 2009.
Categories: cold calling · enactment
The Commodity Futures Tading Law has been revised on 3rd July 2009; the law makes progress significantly with a customer protection. The bill was submitted on the diet on 3rd March 2009. The Japaese Fedelation of Bar Associations upheld the cabinet decision, commented it 12th March 2009.
The law will become comprehensive regulation; it regulates so called Loco-London trading and commodity futures trading dealt in overseas markets; these trading sectors will be prohibited to conduct a cold calling entirely.
It also demands business traders to take suitable measures to prevent customers detriment beyond the principal in mariket trading; if they fail them, they will be prohibited unsolicited calls, whereas it prohibits a cold calling to the over-the-counter trading to a retail customer.
Consumers lawyers, most of whom are participating a study group “Sakimono-zenkoku-ken” , celebrate this law reform, because they have demanded the prohibition of cold calling regarding commodity futures tradings for about two decades. They have been revealing most of the customers detriments were caused by cold calling via a lot of court cases and customers claims via hotline. This law reform is a fruitful victory of successive activity by the lawyers group.
Categories: cold calling · commodity futures
Non-profit Consumer group, “Hyogo Consumer Network”, plans to file an injunction suit against the Japan Airline, seeking ban of an irrational aricle for customer.
The company does not admit to restore a mileage point when a holder consumes it, even if an appropriated transaction is cancelled. The consumer group claims that the article should be regarded as a unilateral disadvantageous agreement; therefore it is against the Consumer Contract Law. An article of Yomiuri Shimbun reported it on 13th March 2009.
Categories: Uncategorized
Nikko Asset Management published a finding about the status of consumer recognition and perception concerning mutual fund products sales.
The White Paper about Sales of Mutual Funds pointed out that more than half of customers who purchased mutual funds is under insufficient status of understanding of products. About 30% of customers consieder that it can not be understood the reason why banks sell mutual funds .
Categories: financial services · securities
The Consumer Appliances Safety Law compels manufactures of consumer products to report serious incidents caused by their producing goods to METI. METI publishes the details of the accidents on the website. A recent finding shows them on 15th March 2009.
METI issued a report which compiled the findings of accidents due to using consumer appliances in 2008 fiscal year. An article of Asahi Shimbun showed it on 22th March 2009.
According to the report, about 20% of accidents were caused by responsibility of consumers; it showed the instances such as an improper usage or not confirming an instructions.
However, we can find usually that consumers do not examine instructions of consumer goods; manufactures have to take account of existence of misuse by consumers, when they design their products. In other words, it is suitable that significant number of accidents that are identified as responsibility of consumers is classified as producer’s liability rather than consumer’s liability.
The instruction of METI above mentioned is useful for consumer; but misuse of consumer goods does not always mean a consumer liability; if METI considers so, it should be said as old-fashioned criterion concerning consumer safety standard.
Categories: consumer injuries · product liability
To the JFBA decision that a member attorney should not recommend his customer credit card settlement, there would be existing strict critique. Such hostile view may be rational in general.
Consumer lawyers have been accusing credit companies that they got irrational profit by virtue of connecting with rogue traders, whereas they neglected suitable inspection for business credibility and financial status at the time when they made membersh0p contracts with rogue traders. In other words, Japanese lawyers, especially those who deal with consumer protection, have a special and instinctive perception to a consumer credit industry.
Such perception may not get agreement by ordinary people who get interest by credit card transaction; on the other hand, a victims getting finance by credit companies connected with rogue traders could have recognition to the feeling.
One accusation would say that an attorney’s business is not be different to other business; therefore it is not rationale that to approve a credit card settlement would prompt the attorney’s business to become usual business as same as other business sectors whose main priority are to get profit.
To the outlook, there would be an argument that most prestigious and important aim of lawyers should be to accomplish a justice rather than getting profit; therefore, lawyers business is different from other business sectors; whilst lawyers should not connect with a busines sector who may ease and assist rogue traders business, there is not still effective statutory regime that make consumer credit sectors hesitate to connect with rogue traders, such as a several and connected lender liability.
Categories: consumer credit
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations maintained his previous position concerning a controversial issue whether credit card payment to an attorney fee shall be restricted; the association asked members to discourage to be member-shops of credit companies. The resolution was executed on the board meeting on 19th March 2009.
The leadership of the JFBA was going to approve the credit card payment as means of settlement of attorney’s fee. In the board meeting, there was some opinion that a lump-sum payment by credit card should be admittable.
However, a hesitant opinion gained an advantage that if credit card payment were encouraged, dignity of an attorney’s work may be impaired; an attorney’s work should not be as same as a usual business.
This reluctant attitude may be based on the over-indebtedness caused by excessive credit card settlement; it claims that to encourage using credit card payment to an attorney’s fee shall make over-indebtedness issue get worse.
By the resolution, the JFBA is going to issue a notice that following practices may be disciplinable against a ethical code of conduct: a credit card company introduce his client to a connected member attorney positively; a member discloses a details of his case to a connected credit card company; an attorney recommend his client to use credit card for his payment, although the attorney know is aware of the state of his client’s shortage of financial ability.
Categories: consumer credit
METI issues a guidance of a franchise business on 17th March 2009. It underlines to make a suitable representation to a franchisee.
Actually, there has regulations that make sure the business to be fair; notwithstanding, there has been also a lot of disputes in this business type; and a lot of court rulings whic approved claims of franchisees has been accumulated up until now.
The guideline seems to be base on the standard which has been formed in these court decisions.
Categories: fair trading
The House of Representative loanchs a bill of establishing the Consumer Affairs Ministry on 17th March 2009.
Categories: authority, agency
