Abstract:
Responsible lending has become a very pertinent issue on the
agenda of credit regulators across the globe who seek to combat
the causes of consumer over-indebtedness. In this context the use
of "pre-agreement assessment" as a tool to filter out those
instances where, based on a consumer's creditworthiness or ability
to repay, credit should not be granted to such a consumer, is a
feature common to the lending regimes of various jurisdictions. This
contribution consists of two parts: Part 1 provides a critical
discussion of the reckless credit provisions of the National Credit
Act 34 of 2005. Part 2 details the responsible lending measures
contained in the EU Consumer Credit Directive and the EU
Mortgage Credit Directive and provides an appraisal of the
responsible lending measures introduced by Belgium, being a
jurisdiction that has always been very pro-active in the context of
consumer credit protection.
