Pursuant to the MNB Act, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) exercises continuous supervision over the entities and persons covered by laws of the financial sector.
Within this framework, it monitors the activities of financial and capital market institutions, funds, insurance companies and institutions of the financial infrastructure (regulated market, clearing house and central depository), both on-site and off-site, using the tools of prudential supervision (i.e. supervision investigating the business soundness), as well as market surveillance and consumer protection tools, and, if necessary, it takes measures. The purpose of the supervision is to ensure timely recognition and appropriate management of risks in order to avoid that they jeopardize the stability of the system and the confidence of the financial intermediary therein. The information obtained during the continuous supervision is integrated by the MNB in the risk assessment. The data of the risk and institutional assessment determine the method and the intensity of the supervisory treatment of a particular financial institution, as well as the scheduling of further investigations and the focus points thereof.
The Bank monitors the activities of the financial institutions in relation to preventing and combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as performs IT supervision. If immediate action is required, it will conduct targeted or topical investigation.
The central bank is committed to financial consumer protection, as well as to market surveillance intended to eliminate unauthorized, unlicensed financial service providers, or those without prior notification. The MNB takes actions to protect the rights of customers using financial services, and divert the service providers towards a responsible and fair behaviour. It identifies phenomena that are disadvantageous for customers as quickly as possible and focuses on exploring and eliminating their causes, thereby also preventing their repeated emergence. During its consumer protection tests the MNB places system-level consumer protection defects affecting a wide range of consumers in the centre of attention.
The Financial Arbitration Board (Pénzügyi Békéltető Testület, PBT) operating besides the MNB is a professionally independent alternative forum for resolving disputes. The PBT provides a faster and more cost-efficient solution than court proceedings for financial disputes requiring a civil procedure between consumers and the financial service providers under contract with them.