Central Credit Register Regulations Published

Regulations follow Credit Reporting Act and will establish a national credit register

Data collection from lenders commences in mid-2017

The Central Bank of Ireland has published regulations governing the operation of the new Central Credit Register (the Register). These regulations set out the legal obligations on lenders to supply information to the Register and use the Register when considering loan applications.

The Register is a national mandatory database of credit intelligence that will be maintained and operated by the Central Bank, in accordance with the provisions of the Credit Reporting Act 2013.

The collection of loan data from lenders will be implemented on a phased basis, with Phase 1 focusing on data collection for consumer lending and Phase 2 focusing on lending to businesses.

Data submissions by lenders for Phase 1 will commence from 30 June 2017 with all lenders required to submit data by 31 December 2017. The Central Bank will shortly notify lenders of their obligations under the regulations and provide access to technical and guidance manuals to support implementation.

It is expected that the Register will produce credit reports for individual lenders after 31 December 2017, subject to data quality assurance.  A credit report will show a profile of a borrower’s credit accounts across all lenders, including repayment history, number of  payments past due , and a record of enquiries made by lenders.  Borrowers will be able to request their own credit report free of charge from the Central Bank, once every year.

Director of Resolution and Corporate Affairs, John Coyle said: “The Central Bank is publishing these regulations today following consultation with the Data Protection Commissioner and the Department of Finance and a public consultation in 2015.

“The development of the Central Credit Register is an important financial sector reform, contributing to financial stability and consumer protection. The Register will match the personal and credit information received from lenders to create a complete credit report, containing all the loans relating to an individual borrower, facilitating enhanced creditworthiness assessments and responsible lending. The establishment of the Register will also support Central Bank functions such as prudential supervision and statistical analysis and will provide the Central Bank with better insights into financial markets.”

Under the Data Protection Acts, the Central Bank will act as data controller and will ensure strict security and data protection protocols are in place to safeguard borrowers’ information submitted by lenders to the Register. 

The Central Bank will also implement an awareness campaign to provide information on the Register to the public.  In advance of commencing operation of the Register, lenders will also be required to put appropriate customer communications in place. 

Notes:

The Government gave a commitment as part of the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland to develop a legal framework that would facilitate the collection and centralisation of credit information on borrowers.

The Credit Reporting Act 2013 provides for the establishment of a Central Credit Register by the Central Bank.

In the Central Bank of Ireland Strategic Plan 2016 - 2018 the Central Bank gave a commitment to launch and manage a new national Central Credit Register.

The credit reporting obligations will apply to over 500 lenders, such as banks, credit unions, local authorities, NAMA, asset finance houses and licensed moneylenders. 

It will be mandatory for lenders to submit information on credit agreements and payment histories to the Register for loans of €500 or more, and to check credit information on the Register when considering credit applications for €2,000 or more. Reporting requirements for lenders will apply to consumer loans outstanding at 30 June 2017 and all loan applications and loans drawn down after that date.

The Register will match records of borrowers by using personal data fields, such as name, address, date of birth and PPSN, to generate a Single Borrower View of all credit exposures reported to the Register for any one borrower. The quality of data submitted can impact the accuracy of reports. This will be taken into account when deciding whether the Register is ready for data enquiry. The Central Bank reserves the right to review the timelines set out above if the quality of data submitted by lenders does not meet the required standard.

Moneylenders and local authorities will be included in Phase 2 which will also extend the data collection to include business loans.  The exact date for commencement Phase 2 will be confirmed in the near future and is likely to begin around Q2 2018.

The Central Bank appointed CRIF Ireland Limited, a subsidiary of Italian company, CRIF S.p.A., as its agent to build and operate the CCR on its behalf.  The Central Bank and CRIF continue to work closely together on the project implementation and on-going operations of the CCR.