Consumer credit agreements—pre-contract requirements

Produced in partnership with Dan Jones of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Guy Stevenson of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Practice notes

Consumer credit agreements—pre-contract requirements

Produced in partnership with Dan Jones of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Guy Stevenson of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Practice notes

This Practice Note examines pre-contract disclosure in consumer credit agreements under the disclosure regulations made under section 55 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA 1974), together with regulatory Requirements encapsulated in Chapter 4 of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Sourcebook on Consumer Credit (CONC 4).

For information about post-contract requirements, see Practice Note: Consumer credit agreements—post-contract requirements.

What is the relevant consumer credit pre-contract disclosure law?

Since 1 April 2014, the FCA has been responsible for the regulation of consumer credit. CCA 1974, and many of the regulations that supplement the CCA 1974 remain in force, however, certain sections have been repealed, amended or supplemented to fall within the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000) and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, SI 2001/544 (RAO) regime. This means that the rules governing pre-contract requirements are set out in regulations made under the CCA 1974 as well as CONC 4.

The starting point is section 55 of the CCA 1974, which requires the disclosure

Dan Jones

Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

With a strong focus on the fintech sector, Dan advises some of the world's leading financial services firms on all aspects of their UK and European regulatory obligations.

Dan has experience across the full spectrum and life cycle of financial services firms: from determining whether the firm's products or services are the subject of financial services regulation, assistance in obtaining a regulatory license, interpretation of applicable regulations and implementation guidance through to M&A regulatory due diligence and skilled person's reports in the event of regulatory investigation.

His clients include global retail and investment banks, asset managers, e-money issuers and payments services providers, crypto-asset issuers, wallets and exchanges.

Dan's notable work includes advice to the UK Open Banking implementation body, the development of a digital only retail bank for a U.S. headquartered global bank and preparing the regulatory license application for a leading global payment services provider.

Before joining Orrick, Dan spent more than a decade working in UK ‘magic circle’ law and ‘Big 4’ consulting firms, advising leading fintech's on regulatory issues across the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Guy Stevenson

Lawyer, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Guy advises clients on a broad range of regulatory and financial crime issues. His practice has a particular focus on retail financial services, including advising on consumer credit, payments, crypto, insurance and financial crime and sanctions issues.

In addition to advising established financial services firms, Guy advises new innovative Fintech businesses on UK regulation including whether their activities will require authorisation and how best to launch their business in the UK. He has significant experience advising firms on regulatory issues connected to the selling of financial services products through apps and online journeys.

Guy frequently advises clients on financial crime issues, including AML controls, sanctions, reporting obligations, failure to prevent offences, anti-corruption and market abuse.

He has a deep knowledge of consumer credit law and excels in providing practical advice on how the law/regulation should be interpreted and applied.

He also advises on contentious matters including regulatory investigations and conduct issues.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Consumer credit agreement definition

What does Consumer credit agreement mean?

It is an agreement between an individual (the 'debtor') and any other person (the 'creditor') by which the creditor provides the debtor with credit of any amount. It must provide certain pre-contractual information to the consumer in a standardised form as defined by EC Directive 2008/48/EC.

Consumer credit agreements—pre-contract requirements

Produced in partnership with Dan Jones of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Guy Stevenson of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Consumer credit agreements—pre-contract requirements

Produced in partnership with Dan Jones of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Guy Stevenson of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe