Written answers

Thursday, 29 June 2017

Department of Finance

Consumer Protection

Photo of Fiona O'LoughlinFiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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110. To ask the Minister for Finance the guidance which is given to customers of financial institutions when a debt is being sold on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30760/17]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, provision 3.11 of the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code 2012 requires that, where a regulated lender intends to transfer all or part of its ‘regulated activities’ to another regulated entity, it must provide advance notification to both the Central Bank and affected consumers.  Specifically, a lender must provide a consumer with at least 2 months’ notice before transferring all or part of its loan book covered by the Code to another person, including where the transferee is an unregulated entity.

Where the transferee is an unregulated entity, the Code requires that the regulated lender also notify the consumer of the regulated entity that will be ‘servicing’ the loan for the unregulated entity.

In the event that there is a change in the credit servicing firm, the existing credit servicing firm must also notify the Central Bank and the consumer in advance, in accordance with the timelines set out under Provision 3.11 of the Code.

It is also important to highlight that the transfer of a loan from one entity to another does not change the terms of the contract or the borrower's rights and obligations under the original contract.

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