Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will raise another issue that is a second part of this major problem. I will be very brief, with the Chair's indulgence. The second part is, as we discussed, that in 2019 the loan owners, or vultures, became regulated. The definition under the 2018 Act took effect in 2019. The change was introduced by an amendment to the definition of "credit servicing" in the 2018 Act. The new definition was that credit servicing included, "holding the legal title to credit" and "managing or administering ... [such] credit ... including [by] ... determination of the overall strategy for the management and administration of a portfolio of credit agreements; [or] ... maintenance of control over key decisions relating to such portfolio[s]". This amendment was what captured the loan owners because the definition now included holding legal title to credit. However, we all know that the vultures are transferring legal title to credit to the credit servicing firms. The fact is those vultures are transferring legal title to credit servicing firms while still retaining beneficial ownership but, from the point of view of the Central Bank and the FSPO, beneficial ownership is neither here nor there. It is where legal title exists. The vultures do not hold legal title, which is with the credit servicing firms and, therefore, they are still unregulated after 2019. Is the Central Bank aware of this? Does it believe that needs to be closed?