OFT consults on unsecured consumer credit

by Gill Montia

Story link: OFT consults on unsecured consumer credit

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched a consultation on unsecured consumer credit.

The move is in connection with the watchdog’s financial services strategy and details its approach to the sector in the current economic crisis.

Interested parties are invited to comment on areas as follows: the prioritisation, in the short term, of promoting fairness and responsibility between the credit industry and consumers, and advocating choice and competition to ensure that public decisions made to deal with the current crisis do not harm competition in the long-term to the detriment of consumers.

The OFT also says it will be conducting a review of the unsecured credit market in response to significant changes in the sector prompted by the financial crisis.

Commenting on the strategy, OFT chief executive, John Fingleton, says: “With our focus on credit, we are addressing the area in which there is a real risk of short-term consumer harm while also ensuring that the sector that emerges from the current crisis is competitive and behaves fairly and responsibly towards consumers.”

The consultation closes on 12th June and the publication of a Financial Services Plan is expected in July.