Protecting Mobile Money Customer Funds in Civil Law Jurisdictions

Global Economic Governance Programme Working Paper 2015/102

UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2015-79

46 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2016 Last revised: 25 Feb 2016

See all articles by David Ramos Muñoz

David Ramos Muñoz

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Javier Solana

School of Law, University of Glasgow

Ross P. Buckley

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice

Jonathan Greenacre

Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University

Date Written: December 21, 2015

Abstract

The provision of financial services through mobile phones is a powerful tool to foster financial inclusion, and thus economic growth, in developing countries. However, it raises important regulatory issues. Given the vulnerability of most potential customers of these services, the protection of customer funds is important. In common law countries, trust law is an effective response to these concerns. In civil law jurisdictions however, in the absence of trusts, protection of customer funds is more difficult. This paper identifies the theoretical and practical problems that regulators in civil law jurisdictions might face when trying to protect customer funds and explores how fiduciary contracts, mandate contracts and direct regulation might be used to achieve this goal. It offers a series of practical recommendations for policy-makers in developing countries that provide a range of regulatory options that combine private law and regulation.

Keywords: finance, mobile phones, economic growth, regulation, funds protection, contracts, civil law jurisdictions

Suggested Citation

Ramos Muñoz, David and Solana, Javier and Buckley, Ross P. and Greenacre, Jonathan, Protecting Mobile Money Customer Funds in Civil Law Jurisdictions (December 21, 2015). Global Economic Governance Programme Working Paper 2015/102, UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2015-79, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2713612 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2713612

David Ramos Muñoz

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid ( email )

126, Getafe
Madrid, 28903
Spain

HOME PAGE: http://www.uc3m.es

Javier Solana

School of Law, University of Glasgow ( email )

Stair Building
5 - 8 The Square
Glasgow, Scotland G12 8QQ
United Kingdom

Ross P. Buckley (Contact Author)

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice ( email )

Sydney, New South Wales 2052
Australia

Jonathan Greenacre

Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University ( email )

67 Bay State Road
Boston, MA 02215
United States

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