BRUSSELS 2007! Plenary 4: "Principles of Responsible Credit – Why and What?" - OUTLINE P4: PRINCIPLES OF RESPONSIBLE CREDIT – WHY AND WHAT? Damon Gibbons (DOOD/ECRC, Chair); John Taylor (NCRC); Jim Murray (BEUC)*; Guy Schellinck (Citi Belgium); Judith Wittig (Deutsche Bank); Lisa Dickinson (GE Money); Craig Norton (HBOS); David Dolidze (Council of Europe)* On Saturday Sept 15th, 10.45am The development of principles has become fashionable in all areas of economic, social and political communication. Such principles are meant partly to anticipate or to avoid the need for new legal regulations, partly to promote corporate identities, and partly to present a public image of important and responsible activity. Within the past five years, several important suppliers have formulated sets of lending principles. For example, the French consumer credit bank Cetelem has published four principles on responsible credit and the British Bankers’ Association has laid down principles of responsible lending to which all members are expected to adhere. The EU Consumer Credit Directive, in its 2002 version, seemed to be based on a number of principles: markets should be the primary solution to credit problems; consumers should get as much information as possible and have time for reflection. NGOs formulate principles that they hope reflect the needs of the over-indebted. Principles can create common sense and foster the development of coalitions. If suppliers and stakeholders in financial services can agree on principles, there may be a basis for communication and cooperation. But supplier principles may also be used to forestall legislative reform or to create high-sounding standards that do not truly benefit the consumer. And NGO principles may be designed only to claim competence and engagement rather than helping those in need. This workshop will investigate the practical value of principles developed for the financial services sector. Are such principles self-serving window-dressing or can they be a valuable way to develop common ideas about how to promote the welfare of all citizens? ---------------------------- Break-away workshop sessions will follow this plenary session where ECRC's 7 Principles of Responsible Credit will be broken down and discussed in detail with attention paid to the possible ways and implications of putting them into practice. The concurrent workgroups will be based on collective discussions with a rapporteur taking note of all suggestions and recommendations, and guide the group towards elaborating statements, examples, and applications for the use of the Principles in the future. Workshop 7: Principles P1 – P3 (Lending) Workshop 8: Principles P4 – P5 (Adaptation, Legislation) W9: Principles P6 – P7 (Overindebtedness, Advice) ID: 40047 Author(s): iff Publication date: 15/09/07     URL(s): Back to main conference website (en) Link to ECRC's full 7 Principles of Responsible Credit (en) Link to page on Workgroup looking at P1-P3 (Lending) Link to page on Workgroup looking at P4 and P5 (Adaptation, Legislation) Link to page on Workgroup looking at P6 and P7 (Overindebtedness, Advice)

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