European Union (Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements) Regulations 2016.

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 142/2016
• Year: 2016

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Part 1

Preliminary

1. Citation

2. Commencement

3. Interpretation

4. “Mortgage credit intermediary” — definition

5. Application of these Regulations

6. Competent authority

Part 2

Financial education

7. Financial education of consumers

Part 3

Conditions applicable to creditors and mortgage credit intermediaries

8. Conduct of business obligations when providing credit to consumers

9. Obligation to provide information free of charge to consumers

10. Knowledge and competence requirements for staff

Part 4

Information and practices preliminary to the conclusion of the credit agreement

11. General provisions applicable to advertising and marketing and provision concerning Consumer Credit Act 1995’s application

12. Standard information to be included in advertising

13. Tying and bundling practices

14. General information

15. Pre-contractual information

16. Information requirements concerning mortgage credit intermediaries

17. Adequate explanations

Part 5

Annual percentage rate of charge

18. Calculation of the annual percentage rate of charge (APRC)

Part 6

Creditworthiness assessment

19. Obligation to assess the creditworthiness of consumer

20. Property valuation

21. Disclosure and verification of consumer information

Part 7

Database access

22. Database access

Part 8

Advisory services

23. Standards for advisory services

Part 9

Foreign currency loans and variable rate loans

24. Foreign currency loans

25. Variable rate credits

Part 10

Sound execution of credit agreements and related rights

26. Early repayment

27. Flexible and reliable markets

28. Information concerning changes in the borrowing rate

29. Arrears and proceedings for possession

Part 11

Requirements for establishment and supervision of mortgage credit intermediaries

30. Authorisation of mortgage credit intermediaries

31. Supplemental provisions in relation to Regulation 30 (duration of authorisation, amendment of it, grounds for refusing its grant, etc.)

32. Credit intermediaries tied to only one creditor

33. Freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services by mortgage credit intermediaries

34. Revocation of authorisation and provisions concerning appeals against such revocations or refusals to grant authorisations or decisions to amend them

35. Supervision of mortgage credit intermediaries

Part 12

Admission and supervision of non-credit institutions

36. Admission and supervision of non-credit institutions

Part 13

Cooperation between competent authorities of different member states

37. Obligation to cooperate

38. Settlement of disagreements between competent authorities of different Member States

Part 14

Miscellaneous

39. Penalties and sanctions

40. Dispute resolution mechanisms

41. Anti-avoidance

42. Transitional provisions

Part 15

Amendments of other enactments

43. Amendment of European Communities (Consumer Credit Agreement) Regulations 2010

44. Amendment of Consumer Credit Act 1995

45. Amendment of Central Bank Act 1942

Schedule 1

Minimum knowledge and competence requirements

Schedule 2

European Standardised Information Sheet (ESIS)

Schedule 3

Calculation of the Annual Percentage Rate of Charge (APRC)

S.I. No. 142 of 2016

EUROPEAN UNION (CONSUMER MORTGAGE CREDIT AGREEMENTS) REGULATIONS 2016

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 25th March, 2016.

I, MICHAEL NOONAN, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 February 2014 on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, hereby make the following regulations:

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements) Regulations 2016.

Commencement

2. These Regulations come into operation on 21 March 2016.

Interpretation

3. (1) In these Regulations—

“advisory services” means the provision of personal recommendations to a consumer in respect of one or more transactions relating to credit agreements and constitutes a separate activity from the granting of a credit and from credit intermediation activities;

“ancillary service” means a service offered to the consumer in conjunction with the credit agreement;

“annual percentage rate of charge” or “APRC” means the total cost of the credit to the consumer, expressed as an annual percentage of the total amount of credit, where applicable, including the costs referred to in Regulation 18(2), and equates, on an annual basis, to the present value of all future or existing commitments (drawdowns, repayments and charges) agreed by the creditor and the consumer;

“authorisation” means a mortgage credit intermediary’s authorisation granted under Regulation 30;

“borrowing rate”, in relation to a credit agreement, means the interest rate expressed as a fixed or variable percentage applied on an annual basis to the amount of credit drawn down;

“bridging loan” means a credit agreement either of no fixed duration or which is due to be repaid within 12 months, used by the consumer as a temporary financing solution during the course of taking steps to enter into another financial arrangement for the immovable property;

“bundling practice” means the offering or the selling of a credit agreement in a package with other distinct financial products or services in circumstances where the credit agreement is also made available to the consumer separately, but not necessarily on the same terms or conditions as when offered bundled with the ancillary services;

“Central Bank” means the Central Bank of Ireland;

“consumer” means a natural person who is acting, in the course of a transaction to which these Regulations apply, for purposes outside his or her trade, business or profession;

“contingent liability or guarantee” means a credit agreement which acts as a guarantee to another separate but ancillary transaction, and in circumstances where the capital secured against an immovable property is only drawn down if an event or events specified in the contract occur;

“contravene” includes fail to comply;

“credit agreement” means an agreement under which a creditor grants or promises to grant to a consumer credit falling within Regulation 5 in the form of a deferred payment, loan or other similar financial accommodation;

“credit institution” means an undertaking the business of which is to take deposits or other repayable funds from the public and to grant credits for its own account;

“creditor” means a natural or legal person who grants or promises to grant credit falling within Regulation 5 in the course of his or her trade, business or profession;

“creditworthiness assessment” means the evaluation of the prospect for the debt obligation resulting from the credit agreement to be met;

“Directive” means Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 February 2014 on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010;

“durable medium” means any medium that enables a consumer to store information addressed personally to the consumer in a way that renders it accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information and allows the unchanged reproduction of the information;

“EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17 March 1993;

“EEA Member State” means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement;

“enactment” includes an instrument made under an enactment;

“foreign currency loan” means a credit agreement where the credit is:

(a) denominated in a currency other than that in which the consumer receives the income or holds the assets from which the credit is to be repaid, or

(b) denominated in a currency other than that of the EEA Member State in which the consumer is resident;

“group” means a parent undertaking and all its subsidiary undertakings;

“home EEA Member State” means:

(a) where the creditor or credit intermediary is a natural person, the EEA Member State in which his or her head office is situated;

(b) where the creditor or credit intermediary is a legal person, the EEA Member State in which its registered office is situated or, if under its national law it has no registered office, the EEA Member State in which its head office is situated;

“host EEA Member State” means the EEA Member State, other than the home EEA Member State, in which the creditor or credit intermediary has a branch or provides services;

“mortgage credit intermediary” has the meaning given to it by Regulation 4;

“non-credit institution” means any creditor who is not a credit institution;

“shared equity credit agreement” means a credit agreement where the capital repayable is based on a contractually set percentage of the value of the immovable property at the time of the capital repayment or repayments;

“staff” means:

(a) any natural person working for the creditor, or mortgage credit intermediary who is directly engaged in the activities to which these Regulations relate or who has contacts with consumers in the course of activities to which these Regulations relate,

(b) any natural person directly managing or supervising the natural persons referred to in paragraph (a);

“tied credit intermediary” means any mortgage credit intermediary who acts on behalf of and under the full and unconditional responsibility of:

(a) only one...