Komerční banka Ombudsman

Komerční banka, a. s. prefers amicable solutions of all disputes with customers and will always seek and find effective solutions best corresponding to the interests and expectations of our clients. In order to ensure best quality and completeness of our services, Komerční banka, a.s. is the only bank in the Czech Republic to introduce the institute of an independent Ombudsman, who is not the bank's employee. The Ombudsman's services are limited to individuals - clients of Komerční banka, a.s. The function of the Ombudsman forms part of the Société Générale group of ombudsmen, led by Ms Christiane Scrivener, with whom the Czech KB Ombudsman closely cooperates.

You can turn to the Ombudsman if you are dissatisfied with the way your claim or complaint has been dealt with. The Ombudsman's activity is regulated and defined in the Komerční banka Ombudsman's Charter. The Ombudsman's decisions are not binding for either of the parties; however, Komerční banka, a.s. undertakes to respect the decision under the settlement procedures.

JUDr. Joseph Franciscus Vedlich, LLM

The Board of Directors of Komerční banka, a.s. has appointed Dr Vedlich as the ombudsman for Komerční banka's clients with effect from 7 December 2009. Dr. Vedlich will continue to tackle contentious issues between Komerční banka, a.s. and its clients - individuals; in 2004, Professor Vojtěch Cepl was the very first ombudsman of a private financial institution in the Czech Republic to start this service.

Joseph Franciscus Vedlich (born 1946) has extensive knowledge and experience in banking and legislation. Having graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in 1980, he later studied for his doctorate at Charles University in Prague. Dr Vedlich has mainly associated his professional career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he ended his active professional career in the position of director of financial services. During his 22 years with the company, he was responsible for a number of major projects in Central and Eastern Europe and in Central Asia. His key position within the PricewaterhouseCoopers group is borne out by the fact that after 1989, he contributed to the opening and management of the group's offices in Russia, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Dr Vedlich is a member of the Societe suisse des juristes. He has Czech and Swiss citizenship, and has been a speaker at many conferences and workshops dedicated to banking. Amongst other things, he has contributed to the Czech edition of several international books on banking and financial services. He is fluent in Czech, French and English and has a good command of German and Russian.