The Law and Consumer Credit Information in the European Community: The regulation of credit information systems

by Ferretti; Federico

• ISBN13: 9780415460736
• ISBN10: 0415460735
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-07
• Publisher: Routledge-Caven

Summary

Consumer credit information systems are the tools used by the majority of lenders to manage credit risk, with lenders accessing credit reference databases managed by third party providers to evaluate a consumer's credit application. So far, the subject of consumer credit reporting has been left to the predominant attention of the economic and business management scholarship and little or no consideration has been paid by lawyers. This book aims to rectify this by examining the legal framework and compliance in the European Community (EC) of such consumer information sharing arrangements which have become increasingly integrated in the credit granting practices of the Member States. The book looks at the laws which surround and affect consumer credit reporting, including bank secrecy obligations. Consumer credit reporting and its relationship to human rights is also explored, as every individual is in the EC is entitled to informational privacy. The book asks questions such as to what extent should the privacy of consumers be balanced against the aims and functions of consumer credit reporting, and how do the financial information sharing arrangements comply with the positive law, particularly the European data protection legislation?

Table of Contents

Table of Cases	p. xi
Table of Legislation	p. xiii
Abbreviations	p. xv
Acknowledgements	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Consumer credit reporting in the economy: What is consumer credit reporting, and why is it used?	p. 9
Introduction	p. 9
Consumer credit reporting and Credit Reference Agencies	p. 9
The rationale for consumer credit reporting systems	p. 12
What information is collected, processed and disclosed to third parties?	p. 15
The trends: secondary uses of credit reference data	p. 19
Concluding remarks	p. 29
The lack of a legal perspective	p. 31
Introduction	p. 31
Consumer credit reporting in the economic literature	p. 32
Institutional aspects and the literature in regulatory policy	p. 37
Literature in law	p. 40
Information asymmetry and consumers	p. 42
Remarks on the review of the literature	p. 43
The importance of legal research	p. 45
Concluding remarks	p. 47
Historical background: the cultural framework. A lesson from history?	p. 49
Introduction	p. 49
Historical informal information-sharing mechanisms	p. 51
The origins of credit information-sharing systems: business credit reporting in the US	p. 53
Consumer credit reporting in the US	p. 58
Consumer credit reporting in Europe	p. 65
Lessons for the EC from history?	p. 71
Concluding remarks	p. 74
The institutional and legal standing in the EC: Is the EC missing a chance?	p. 77
Introduction	p. 77
European markets in consumer credit	p. 78
Institutional framework	p. 81
European consumer credit reporting markets	p. 85
European cross-border exchange of information	p. 89
Structural impediments for a European single market	p. 92
The legal framework	p. 93
Bank secrecy	p. 94
Data protection	p. 99
Consumer credit laws	p. 103
Concluding remarks: missing a chance?	p. 126
Reputation, privacy and the law: What rights and interests are at stake and to what extent are these conflicting?	p. 129
Introduction	p. 129
Reputation	p. 130
The importance of data protection and the reasons for EC legislation	p. 134
Problems relating to the implementation of Directive 95/46/EC	p. 144
Concluding remarks	p. 148
Legal compliance: What are the legal mechanisms upon which consumer credit reporting needs to rely?	p. 151
Introduction	p. 151
Data controllers	p. 152
Fair and lawful data processing	p. 154
Information to be given to data subjects	p. 156
Criteria for making data processing legitimate	p. 161
Specified, explicit and legitimate purposes of data processing and further processing	p. 165
Adequacy, relevancy and reasonableness of data processing	p. 167
Accuracy and updating of the data	p. 170
Data retention period	p. 173
Automated individual decisions	p. 174
Concluding remarks	p. 175
Conclusions	p. 177
Introduction	p. 177
Consent model	p. 179
Other concerns	p. 182
Secondary data processing purposes and consumer protection	p. 184
Consent, privacy, EC consumer law and competition: further implications for consumer protection?	p. 190
The paradox of consumer credit reporting systems	p. 195
The European dimension	p. 198
Concluding policy and institutional considerations	p. 204
Case studies	p. 209
United Kingdom	p. 209
Italy	p. 213
Lesson from Italy?	p. 223
Bibliography	p. 225
Index	p. 239
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