The Hellenic Ombudsman for Banking Investment Services (HOBIS) received roughly 9,600 phone calls and visits in 2013, including 8,457 referring to private transactions, 563 to professionals and small businesses and 585 to investment transactions, according to its annual report published on Friday.
According to Ombusdman Dimitris Pavlakis, HOBIS also received 1,508 written complaints, 1,214 of which were about private banking, 183 about professionals and small businesses and 111 referred to investment transactions.
Overall, a total of 1,894 written cases were processed in 2013 and the website (www.hobis.gr) had roughly 21,000 visits.

Over the past year, a significant number of cases presented in HOBIS were in absolute accordance with the overall situation in the country and the reduction in the volume of bank and investment transactions and therefore, the phone calls, visits and written complaints were considerably decreased compared to the same period in 2012. A significant role in this development was played by the amendment of Law No 3869/2010 as regards the out-of-court settlement procedure.

The public can contact the ombudsman’s office by dialing 210-33 76700 or by visiting the independent authority’s website.