The National Consumer Credit Protection Legislation Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 2) (here) were registered on 21 July. They amend the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010 and the National Consumer Credit Protection (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2010.
The Regulations:
• insert an exemption from licensing for upstream referrers;
• insert an exemption from licensing for locums and employment agencies, and exemptions from certain obligations for temporary employees appointed as credit representatives;
• remove the 12-month sunset clause from the exemption from licensing for state licensed debt collectors (so that the exemption from licensing for state licensed debt collectors will not expire after 12 months, as the states have not yet reached agreement on the regulation of debt collectors);
• insert an exemption from certain licensing obligations for authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) who provide credit assistance under “white labelling” arrangements;
• amend the existing exemption from licensing for providers of incidental membership benefits;
• amend the definition of unsolicited contact (these amendments take effect on 1 October 2010);
• replace references to licensee with references to unlicensed carried over instrument lender (UCOIL) in the Principal Credit Regulations;
• expand the exemption from having to make external dispute resolution (EDR) related disclosures to additional persons and provisions of the Credit Code;
• correct a reference to a prescribed UCOIL; and
• include orders under the Criminal Organisation Act 2009 (Queensland) in the list of prescribed orders relevant to licensing.
These changes have important structuring implications for credit providers and intermediaries.
