votes: Marta Gellová Secretary General of the Association of Financial Intermediaries and Financial Advisors of the Czech Republic Photo Vladimír Weiss FAIRNESS LEADERSHIP
An interview with Marta Gellová Secretary General of the Association of Financial Intermediaries and Financial Advisors of the Czech Republic Leaders Magazine II 2009 49 You have worked in several managerial positions in the financial field What brought you to the Association of Financial Intermediaries and Financial Advisors of the Czech Republic AFIZ It happened by chance and I am very happy about it After three years of its existence the AFIZ was looking for a new manager I had been told about the selection procedure by my financial advisor and I was successful in it The Association is a rather new body at the Czech financial market What led to its foundation The AFIZ was originally founded as an association of investment intermediaries as the reaction to a new legal form approved in 2002 At that time the intermediary of investment instruments was exempted from businesses Moreover the new business authorization necessary for this activity registration of the then Commission for securities KCP was codified At that time the AFIZ noticeably helped hundreds of interested persons in this new business authorization especially via their qualified training and with their own registration process At that time already the close cooperation between the regulator and supervision i e the Ministry of Finance and the KCP proved excellent As all the AFIZ members offered a considerably brighter scope of services than merely the mediation of investment instruments on the financial market the Association activities logically widened and provided mediation of all products on the financial market Consequently there occurred the merger with then Association of Financial Advisors and Intermediaries AFPZ and so was the AFIZ established Could you discuss what consulting services does the AFIZ largely focus on The AFIZ members pursue financial consultancy primarily for retail oriented clients while the consultancy is connected with the mediation of recommended financial products Thus it concerns the most widely spread model of financial consultancy in which case one consultant is paid from commissions for consequently conveyed financial products and does not receive any direct payment from his clients What is your membership base Do your members gain any special advantages what services do they use primarily Our membership base covers large consultancy firms and intermediary companies as well as specialized small businesses We have 11 members like that and as I mentioned earlier also the largest companies on the Czech market are involved Apart from that we have about 1,000 individual members i e physical persons The AFIZ members use both special workshops organized by us and particularly specialist consultancy services of our legal department primarily once the new legislation is applied Part of the services concerns also the commentaries of acts and regulations when they are under preparation Another area we focus on is the communication with clients in case any dispute arises for instance in the situation when the client complaints about provided services Then the AFIZ tries to find a peaceful settlement of the dispute suitable for both the client and the consultant Obviously we have an option to reprehend our client if our Ethical Committee finds a serious failure Within the disciplinary proceedings we can give targeted penalties or we can even exclude our member and make this fact public which has already happened Could you specify the aim of the Ethical Committee The Ethical Committee is an independent body of the AFIZ elected by its general meeting Its members are not only our members but also the Czech consumers associations the Consumers Defence Association and the Czech Consumer Association and also some specialist attorney’s offices The primary goal of the Ethical Committee is to supervise the adherence to the Ethical Code of our members and to seek solutions when it is breached in disciplinary proceedings on the basis of the suggestions of the clients of our members From this year onwards we would like to advance the activities of the Ethical Committee in the field of self adjusting standards The AFIZ focuses also on the educational area What events incited the biggest interest I would say that most successful were particularly the workshops aimed at the application of new legislation With regard to the fact that we participate in its preparation we have an ideal opportunity to present it and help with its implementation through workshops where we invite the authors of new legislation directly Is the AFIZ somehow going to respond to the current world economic recession With regard to our activities we can consider only the organization of workshops aimed at this issue However we do not interfere with the business activities of our members Are you planning to launch any new projects in the future Yes we are We have several projects ready particularly in the sphere of the creation of expert standards regarding our profession and furthermore in the sphere of public education in the Czech Republic and within the international projects of the EU Concerning the creation of expert standards we would like to cooperate closely with the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic and with the Czech National Bank Concerning the area of public education and support of financial literacy we are launching a project together with several partners among others for instance the Business School Ostrava plc the Czech Consumer Association the Debt Advisory Centre Counselling in Stringency in Public Benefit Company form the Czech Financial Arbitrator and the Microfinance As far as international projects are concerned I would like to name among others the project EQUALIFISE In this project representatives from 21 EU countries take part with the main goal to identify qualification within the field of financial services in the EU its methodology and monitoring By Pavlína Holancová českou verzi naleznete na www leadersmagazine cz Marta Gellová graduated in 1992 from Charles University in Prague Faculty of Law She spent 6 months at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg as a trainee and has professional work experience from a solicitors offi ce in UK She worked as an executive for multinational companies such as Rothmans of Pall Mall and Ford Motor Company Between 2000 and 2004 she was the Chair of the Board of Directors and the General Director of the IP banka a s Marta Gellová also has experience in consultancy for accreditation of educational programs for the state administration In November 2005 she was appointed to the position of the Secretary General of the Association of Financial Intermediaries and Financial Advisors of the Czech Republic In January 2006 she was elected member of the Association Since June 2006 she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the FECIF She is also a member of the Ethics Committee of the Association of Funds and Asset Management of the Czech Republic and since 2008 of the Czech Capital Market Association Since February 2007 Marta has also held the chairmanship of the Supervisory Board of the Czech Radio
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