Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 6, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 92 of Act of 1995

5.Section 92 of the Act of 1995 is amended, in subsection (2), by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘financial services legislation’ has the same meaning as it has in the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013;

‘rate of nominal monthly interest’ means the advertised or stated monthly interest rate, without taking into account any fees, but including any compounding of interest applicable;”.”.

As I was saying, these amendments will allow the Central Bank to take account of additional matters when granting, suspending, revoking or varying high-cost credit licences. They will allow the Central Bank to take account of the conduct of the high-cost credit providers in the same way that the bank treats other regulated financial service providers, for example in the monetary compliance with the Central Bank’s regulations or codes of conduct. This deals with the discussion we have been having here up to now. I am talking about situations where providers breach financial services legislation by failing to pay the Central Bank levies on time or where they do not submit key information on the central credit register on time, or at all. With the terms of the licences moving now from one to five years, these changes will bring the high-cost credit providers’ licences more in line with those of other financial service providers.

I have read the general note I have been provided on these amendments, which were grouped together for discussion. I can go into more detail, if required, on the specifics. As I say, amendment No. 4 is the substantive one. The other three amendments are only there to ensure amendment No. 4 is properly inserted into the legislation.

I will move on to amendment No. 4, which is the substantive one. Section 93(10) of the Consumer Credit Act 1995 sets down the list of practices which the Central Bank can take into account when deciding whether to grant a high-cost credit provider's licence. The items added to this list will mean that the provider must satisfy the bank that it will be able to comply with the requirements of being a licensed high-cost credit provider, and a regulated financial service provider more generally, and that it will conduct its business in such a way as to ensure the protection of its customers - which is new - and in compliance with any other requirements considered necessary by the bank for the proper and orderly regulation and supervision of high-cost credit and the protection of the applicant’s customers. This legislation is, therefore, very strong on customer protection, which the Central Bank will have a role in now when the providers proceed to the renewal of a particular licence.

Finally, section 93 deals with the factors considered when suspending or revoking a licence. The Central Bank will now be able to take into account whether the high-cost credit provider has failed or is failing to comply with any condition or requirement under the financial services regulation. The Central Bank will now clearly have authority to be able to amend or revoke a licence during the course of the five-year period. The other two amendments are minor, relatively speaking.