European Communities (Consumer Credit Agreements) Regulations 2010

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 281/2010

ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS

Part 1 Preliminary

1 Citation.

2 Commencement.

3 Scope of these Regulations.

4Relationship of Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations with Consumer Credit Act 1995.

5 Effect on existing agreements.

6 Interpretation.

Part 2 Information and practices preliminary to conclusion of credit agreements

7 Standard information to be included in advertising of credit.

8 Pre-contractual information — general obligations.

9Pre-contractual information requirements for certain overdraft facilities and certain other credit agreements.

10 Exemptions from pre-contractual information requirements.

11 Obligation to assess creditworthiness of consumers.

Part 3 Database access

12 Refusal of credit applications on basis of database access.

Part 4 Information and rights concerning credit agreements

13 Information to be included in credit agreements.

14 Information concerning changes in borrowing rates.

15 Obligations in relation to overdraft facilities.

16 Termination of open-end credit agreements.

17 Right of withdrawal.

18 Linked credit agreements.

19 Early repayment.

20 Assignment of creditors’ rights.

21 Overrunning.

Part 5 Annual percentage rate of charge

22 Calculation of annual percentage rate of charge.

Part 6 Credit intermediaries

23 Obligations of credit intermediaries.

Part 7 Miscellaneous

24 Anti-avoidance.

25 Penalties.

26 Regulation of certain friendly societies for certain purposes.

Part 8 Amendments of other statutory instruments

27 Amendment of Distance Marketing Regulations.

Schedule 1 Methods of calculating annual percentage rate of charge

Part 1Basic equation expressing equivalence of drawdowns with repayments and charges

Part 2Additional assumptions for calculation of annual percentage rate of charge

Schedule 2 Standard European Consumer Credit Information Form

Schedule 3 European Consumer Credit Information Form for overdrafts, consumer credit offered by certain credit organisations and debt conversion

S.I. No. 281 of 2010

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CONSUMER CREDIT AGREEMENTS) REGULATIONS 2010

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 11th June, 2010.

I, BRIAN LENIHAN, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) (as amended by the European Communities Act 2007 (No. 18 of 2007)), and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 2008/48/EC 1 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008, hereby make the following regulations:

PART 1 Preliminary

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Consumer Credit Agreements) Regulations 2010.

Commencement

2. These Regulations come into operation on 11 June 2010.

Scope of these Regulations

3. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (6), Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations apply to credit agreements.

(2) Only the following provisions of Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations apply to a credit agreement in the form of an overdraft facility where the credit has to be repaid on demand or within 3 months:

(a) the following provisions of Regulation 7:

(i) paragraph (1);

(ii) subparagraphs (a) to (c) of paragraph (2);

(iii) paragraph (5);

(b) Regulations 9 to 12;

(c) the following provisions of Regulation 13:

(i) paragraphs (1), (2) and (6);

(ii) subparagraphs (a) to (f) and subparagraph (h) of paragraph (7);

(d) Regulations 15, 18, 20, 22, 23 and 24.

(3) Only Regulations 21 and 24 of Parts 2 to 7 apply to a credit agreement in the form of overrunning.

(4) Subject to paragraph (5), only the following provisions of Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations apply to a credit agreement entered into by a credit union (within the meaning given by the Credit Union Act 1997 (No. 15 of 1997)):

(a) Regulations 7, 9 and 12;

(b) the following provisions of Regulation 13:

(i) paragraphs (1) and (2);

(ii) subparagraphs (a) to (h) and subparagraph (l) of paragraph (3);

(iii) paragraph (6);

(c) Regulations 14 and 16;

(d) Regulations 19 to 24.

(5) Paragraph (4) ceases to have effect on 11 December 2011.

(6) Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations do not apply—

(a) to a credit agreement secured by—

(i) a mortgage or another comparable security on immovable property, or

(ii) a right related to immovable property,

(b) to a credit agreement the purpose of which is to acquire or retain property rights in land or in an existing or projected building,

(c) to a credit agreement involving a total amount of credit of less than €200 or more than €75,000,

(d) subject to paragraph (7), to a hiring or leasing agreement where an obligation to purchase the object of the agreement is not laid down either by the agreement itself or by a separate agreement,

(e) subject to Regulation 9(9), to a credit agreement in the form of an overdraft facility where the credit has to be repaid within one month,

(f) to a credit agreement where the credit is granted free of interest and without any other charges,

(g) to a credit agreement under the terms of which the credit has to be repaid within 3 months and only insignificant charges are payable,

(h) to a credit agreement where the credit is granted by an employer to an employee or employees as a secondary activity free of interest or at annual percentage rates of charge lower than those prevailing on the market and not offered to the public generally,

(i) to a credit agreement concluded with an investment firm (as defined in Regulation 3(1) of the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007 ( S.I. No. 60 of 2007 )) (in this subparagraph called “the MiFID Regulations”) or with a credit institution (as defined in Regulation 2(1) of the European Communities (Capital Adequacy of Credit Institutions) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 661 of 2006 )) for the purposes of allowing an investor to carry out a transaction relating to an instrument or instruments of a kind listed in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the MiFID Regulations, where the investment firm or credit institution is involved in the transaction,

(j) to a credit agreement that is the outcome of a settlement reached in court or before another statutory authority,

(k) to a credit agreement that relates to the deferred payment, free of charge, of an existing debt,

(l) to a credit agreement on the conclusion of which the consumer is requested to deposit an item as security in the creditor’s safe-keeping and under which the liability of the consumer is strictly limited to the pledged item, or

(m) to a credit agreement that relates to a loan granted to a member or members of a restricted public—

(i) under a statutory provision with a general interest purpose, and

(ii) either—

(I) at lower interest rates than those prevailing on the market or free of interest, or

(II) on other terms more favourable to the consumer than those prevailing on the market and at interest rates not higher than those prevailing on the market.

(7) A credit agreement shall be taken to contain an obligation referred to in paragraph (6)(d) if the creditor concerned unilaterally so decides.

(8) Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations do not apply to credit agreements entered into by the following friendly societies:

(a) Ardlea Credit Union Co-operative Ltd;

(b) Finglas West Credit Co-operative Ltd;

(c) St. Anne’s Community Credit Co-operative Ltd;

(d) Artane Credit Union Co-operative Ltd.

(9) The Registrar of Friendly Societies shall, at least once in every calendar year, carry out a review to determine whether the bodies mentioned in paragraph (8) continue to meet the criterion for exemption set out in Article 2(5) of Directive 2008/48/EC 2 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008.

Relationship of Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations with Consumer Credit Act 1995

4. (1) For the application of Part II of the Consumer Credit Act 1995 (No. 24 of 1995) (in this Regulation called “the Act of 1995”) to advertising to which Regulation 7 applies, the annual percentage rate (in that Part called “APR”) shall be determined in accordance with the definition of “annual percentage rate of charge” in Regulation 6(1) and the formulae set out in Schedule 1.

(2) Subject to paragraph (4), Parts III (other than section 30(1)), IV (other than section 42) and V of the Act of 1995 do not apply in relation to a credit agreement to which Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations apply.

(3) Where a creditor communicates with a consumer or guarantor in writing, section 45 of the Act of 1995 applies to the communication.

(4) Paragraph (3) does not affect the operation of any provision of Part III, IV or V of the Act of 1995 in relation to a contract of guarantee that relates to a credit agreement.

(5) Nothing in this Regulation affects the operation of any provision of the Act of 1995 in relation to advertising, or a credit agreement, to which Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations do not apply.

(6) For the purposes of this Regulation, a credit agreement referred to in Regulation 3(6)(e), and a credit agreement in the form of an overrunning, shall be taken to be a credit agreement to which these Regulations apply.

Effect on existing agreements

5. (1) Other than as set out in paragraphs (2) to (4), Parts 2 to 7 of these Regulations do not apply to a credit agreement that is in existence when these Regulations come into operation.

(2) Regulations 14, 15, 16 and 20 apply to an open-end credit agreement that is in existence when these Regulations come into operation.

(3) In relation to an open-end credit agreement that is in existence when these Regulations come into operation, the creditor concerned shall provide the information referred to in Regulation 9(1)(e) to the consumer concerned on a regular basis, on paper or another durable medium.

(4) Regulation 21(2) applies to an...