Section 151 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995 (‘the Act’) provides that the Director of Consumer Affairs (now the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission) shall establish and keep a register of credit intermediaries and section 151A of the Act provides that the Central Bank of Ireland shall establish and keep a register of moneylenders and a register of mortgage intermediaries. Each of these registers is to be kept in a form as determined by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Central Bank respectively and further requirements in relation to the respective registers, including access to the registers, is also set out in those sections. Furthermore, Regulation 31 of the EU Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreement Regulations 2016 provides that the Central Bank shall establish and maintain a register of mortgage credit intermediaries which is to be kept up to date and made publicly available on the internet.
As previously indicated, the public can consult the “Register of Mortgage Credit Intermediaries/Mortgage Intermediaries” and the “Register of Moneylenders ” by viewing them on the Central Bank of Ireland’s Registers website. These are accessible at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is no time limitation in respect of accessing these registers. Any queries in respect of the register for mortgage credit intermediaries can be sent to postauthorisations@centralbank.ie and any queries in respect of the moneylenders register can be sent to moneylending@centralbank.ie.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which falls within the remit of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, is responsible for the authorisation of credit intermediaries and the maintenance of the register of credit intermediaries, which is available on its website.
