A new approach to financial regulation: Consultation on reforming the consumer credit regime
Open date: 21 Dec 2010
Closing date: 22 Mar 2011
Background
The Government wants to ensure that the consumer credit regulatory regime is fit for the future, flexible and able to keep up with a fast-paced, innovative market.
On 21 December 2010, HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published ‘A new approach to financial regulation: consultation on reforming the consumer credit regime’.
This consultation document considered the merits of transferring responsibility for the regulation of consumer credit the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The consultation period closed on 21 March 2011. The Government received over 100 responses from a range of stakeholders, including consumer credit licence holders, trade associations, consumer groups, local authorities and trading standards services, legal practitioners and academics.
A summary of responses was published on 19 July 2011. This summary can be found below, along with all formal, written responses (except where confidentiality was requested).
On 26 January 2012, the Government announced that the Financial Services Bill includes provisions enabling a transfer of responsibility for consumer credit to the FCA, under the same legislative framework as other financial services, while retaining the existing consumer rights and protections in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA) . The Government will exercise these powers if and when it has identified a model of FCA regulation that is proportionate for the different segments of the consumer credit market. The exercise of these powers will be subject to impact assessment and the approval of both Houses of Parliament.
The Government is confident that a proportionate and effective consumer credit regime in the FCA will be deliverable. However, the Government retains the option to improve consumer protection by enhancing the regulatory powers and approach under the CCA, should it conclude that a model for consumer credit regulation under FSMA and the FCA cannot be delivered in a way that improves consumer protection while delivering good regulatory proportionality and value.
Further detail on the Government’s announcement, and a link to the Financial Services Bill, can be found here: The Financial Services Bill.
The documents are available in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website. For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit the HM Treasury accessibility page.
A new approach to financial regulation: consultation on reforming the consumer credit regime
A new approach to financial regulation: consultation on reforming the consumer credit regime - impact assessment
Summary of responses to consultation on reforming the consumer credit regime
Individual responses to the consultation
Download the consultation
