Professor Philip Lane:

It is a decision first of all for those who own the ICB to decide whether it has a business future. The central credit register is only in the start-up phase and, therefore, I do not think there has been any decision yet about the future of the ICB. The central credit register is an important new source of information. The AnaCredit register will be important when it is on stream. The amount of information available to lenders will increase.

On the basic point about whether somebody in this situation is totally stuck because some historical default or non-payment means there is a flag on his or her record, we must make a distinction between households where the consumer protection framework is strongest and treatment of small and medium enterprises and bigger firms where the way in which a loan contract is managed will be different. The level of protection for consumers will naturally be much higher than for business enterprises because of the basic differences in those two types of loan and activity. I am sure the experience is tough for many small business owners, and the question there is how a bank or a non-bank should treat those loans.