Requirements and penalties

Under the consumer credit licensing regime we have the following powers:

• to suspend, vary or revoke existing licences
• to refuse applications for new licences
• to grant licences in accordance with an application or on different terms
• to impose Requirements on existing and new licensees. We will exercise this power when we are not satisfied with the conduct of the licensee or applicant and when we want the licensee or applicant to address the concern.

We also have power to impose financial penalties if the Requirements we impose are not complied with. The maximum penalty will be £50,000.

Licensees are able to appeal against the imposition of Requirements, as with any decisions we make.

We published a  statement of policy and guidance on civil penalties on 7 January 2008. The statement of policy explains how the OFT proposes to use its powers to impose financial penalties on licensees where they fail to comply with requirements or to provide relevant information to the OFT. It also forms our guidance on financial penalties. For more information see the statement of policy on civil penalties (pdf 111 kb). For more information on requirements, see the guidance on fitness and requirements (pdf 147 kb).

If there are any queries, these should be addressed to credit.guidance@oft.gsi.gov.uk.

Back to: Consumer Credit Act 2006