Le Bureau Européen des Unions des Consommateurs (BEUC) a publié une Déclaration sur Le Consommateur et la Crise actuelle. Le Legislateur Americain a publié une loi sur le crédit à travers des cartes de crédit. Information contre regulation - ou est le future de la surveillance des banques? The umbrella organisation of many European consumer and test organisations has published its opinion concerning the financial crisis and its roots. It also has developed concrete demands to overcome this crisis and prevent future problems. Entitled "FACING UP TO THE FINANCIAL CRISIS - BEUC’s concrete suggestions to protect consumers in the short and long term January 2009" BEUC asks for more precontractual consumer information, more consumer advice and more supervision of banks and more transparency. It thus remains within the political frame as defined by recent EU politics promoted by DG SANCO, Internal Market and Competition. The fruit of this information model in consumer protection is now discussed at the national level where the new Consumer Credit Directive is implemeted with an enormous amount of detailed information rights and duties. Grassroot organisations as well as banks see this approach rather critical. Too much superfluous costly information creates an information overflow. The necessary information - a one price disclosure and an obligatory repayment plan - have instead been sacrificed to repeated useless details on credit. It is therefore unclear why this critique at the national level has not been taken serious by BEUC. The vast number of analysis on this crisis reveal that the most uninformed customers of financial products have indeed been the banks themselves. They bought hazardous products and believed in skyrocking profit promises. Should they get more information rights? The subprime crisis in credit card and mortgage credit in the US and the UK has shown that irrespective of enormous information duties usurious and irresponsible products have massively been marketed to customers who had no choice. The lack of choice was not at all a problem of information but a problem of need and existing debt. Only stricter product regulations would have ameliorated the fate of these customers. Products with kickback provisions of up to 30% will always be efficiently marketed to consumers if allowed. Usurious credit will always be imposed on consumers in refinancing arrangements. The new US Credit Card Act is the exact answer to this challenge. It should carefully be studied by BEUC and the Commission since it enumerates all practices and products which have been identified and forbids many of them. These practices and not the uninformed consumers themselves have led to the financial crisis of consumers and consequently of the financial system. The credit card act is a law where the information model is visibly left aside and products and marketing practices itself are targeted. In so far the statement of BEUC support a widespread illusion that financial markets with sufficient information would be able to serve all people in society regardless of their income and social stance. But two elements of this declaration show that the close relations in Brussel may not always lead to similar views. The declaration does not support the view that financial education of consumers could have brought major improvements to the system. It therefore does not join those who implicetly blame consumers for the crisis. Second there is an interesting point on Responsible Lending. It does not use the concept of "responsible credit" as promoted by the worldwide Coalition on responsible credit. It instead sticks to the narrow defintion of the new Directive on responsible lending as a principle that impedes credit extension at all and not only the extension of unproductive and irresponsible credit products. But its following applications goes far beyond a duty of assessing the creditworthiness of consumers. Here we find some elements of the seven principles of responsible credit as promoted by ECRC. We invite all to take up the vast discussions which ECRC has started with many of its members in many national and international conferences. The chapter on Responsible Lending reads as follows: CREDIT – PRET RESPONSABLE Faits: Le prêt irresponsable est une des principales causes de la crise financière actuelle. C’est la raison pour laquelle, cette question mérite plus que jamais que l’on s’y attarde. Les prêteurs devraient être obligés d’évaluer la capacité financière des consommateurs demandant un crédit et de contrôler leur solvabilité. Nos demandes: • Réglementer les taux d’intérêt variables afin de protéger le consommateur contre les charges d’intérêt excessives : - plafonner (caper) les taux d’intérêt variables afin de limiter les variations de taux d’intérêt. - améliorer l’information sur les taux variables. - interdire la pratique des taux promotionnels, c’est-à-dire un taux d’intérêt attractif (ou fixe) qui passe à un taux d’intérêt plus élevé (ou variable) après un certain temps. • Encourager la protection des consommateurs et le comportement responsable des établissements de crédit avec une législation sur le crédit hypothécaire : si la décision de la banque est basée sur une mauvaise évaluation de la situation financière du consommateur, les coûts du prêt irresponsable devraient être supportés par les seuls prêteurs et non par les consommateurs (Cf. par ex. la législation belge en matière de crédit responsable). • Réglementer les activités de crédit qui menacent gravement la solvabilité des consommateurs (crédit en devises étrangères, crédit garanti par des fonds mutuels, crédit Lombard, crédit renouvelable…) ainsi que les pratiques de taux usuraires et les coûts excessifs. • Accompagner et évaluer étroitement la mise en oeuvre de la directive sur le crédit aux consommateurs en mettant en particulier l’accent sur le niveau de protection du consommateur (y compris la régulation des distributeurs de crédit), les opérations de crédit responsables et les ajustements nécessaires dans l’avenir et surveiller en particulier la transposition et la mise en oeuvre de l’article 8 (obligation faite au prêteur d’évaluer la solvabilité du consommateur). ID: 43032 Auteur(s): iff Date de parution: 04/06/09     BEUC Crise Financière (420287 Bytes) URL(s): US Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009

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