ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the public law regulation of the credit market provided for by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, namely, the licensing, advertising and marketing controls and also the controls regulating information held by credit reference agencies. The White Paper Fair, Clear and Competitive – The Consumer Credit Market in the 21st Century has made a number of suggestions for significantly reforming the licensing system with the aim of both streamlining the system and at the same time making the system more rigorous. The Consumer Credit Act 1974 has some specific controls on how credit businesses solicit their customers. One of the most restrictive controls on methods of seeking business is that which makes it an offence to canvass off trade premises for debtor-creditor agreements or credit brokerage, debt adjusting or debt counselling services. Breach of many of the public regulation provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 lead to the commission of offences.
