ConsumerTrust

Commercetrust's Chairman, Dr Toh See Kiat, was invited to grace the launching of the Best Practice Guideline for Financial Planners and Financial Institutions Seminar on 27th October 2001 held at Mandarin Hotel Singapore. The seminar, entitled "What They Don't Tell You About Financial Planning-Providing Real Value To Clients", was hosted and organised by the Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP).

The SFSP, whose mission is to set and promote standards of excellence for professionals in financial services, has a membership that is inclusive of professionally credentialised financial service professionals in different fields of specialisation including insurance, securities, fund management, accounting, taxation, law, estate planning and banking.

During the seminar, Dr Toh presented a list of recommendations on what financial planners and financial institutions should do to address consumer privacy rights and issues. This recommendation guideline is in line with the Code of Practice of the PrivacyTrust Global Reliability Programme administered by Commercetrust Limited. The code is based on international practices of trustmarks established in the OECD, the GBDe guidelines and several other global regulatory standards.

In addressing key financial service professionals about consumer privacy concerns, Dr Toh discussed the increasing focus on consumer privacy rights and the implications for financial planners. Specifically, the advent of data protection laws and codes, such as the EU Data Protection Directive and Singapore's NIAC Code, were highlighted.

"Complying with the best practice guideline can be a complex task that demands enormous amount of time and resources of an organisation. Nevertheless, financial planners and financial institutions can generate significant confidence in consumers by complying with high standards that are internationally recognised," said Dr Toh. "Incidentally, for financial planners and institutions that operate in global marketplaces that have little coherence in the regulatory frameworks, conforming with internationally agreed standards will enable them to break down these barriers and gain access to global markets."

CommerceTrust Limited is formed with the primary objective to accelerate the development and promotion of trust in both the physical and internet business environment by providing a benchmarking framework for trust. Its mission is to be a global leader in building trust and confidence by providing trustmarks that facilitate business transactions.

CommerceTrust's Global Reliability Programme is customised to meet the different requirements of specific industries or categories of businesses. Each programme has a representative trustmark that is distinctive and easily recognisable. Currently, three distinctive trustmarks are issued: ConsumerTrust, PrivacyTrust and BusinessTrust.

CommerceTrust Limited is initiated by CommerceNet Singapore (CNSG), a not-for-profit industry association for companies that engage in electronic commerce and e-business. CNSG is part of a global consortium of business partners spread over 20 countries. Its mission is to make electronic commerce easy, trusted and ubiquitous.

PrivacyTrust is a Global Reliability Programme that aims to meet international practices in personal data protection. The PrivacyTrust Code of Practice is based on the standards embodied in the National Internet Advisory Committee (NIAC) E-Commerce Code for the Protection of Personal Information and Communications of Consumers of Internet Commerce, the OECD's Guidelines Governing the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data (1980), the EU-US Safe Harbour Agreement as well as the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46.

The PrivacyTrust Global Reliability Programme serves to provide assurance to consumers that their privacy rights would be respected. The PrivacyTrust mark is not only a symbol of trust that provides consumers with a privacy-friendly environment, it is also a mark that signifies a reliable and consistent method by which businesses can demonstrate their conformity to international data protection standards and enhance their ability to thrive in the markets of the developed world.

CommerceTrust Limited
35, Selegie Road,
#09-25, Parklane,
Singapore 188307
Tel: 65 - 6337 2368 Fax: 65 - 6337 7108
Email:commercetrust@cnsg.com.sg