ASIC has accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from Tru Blu Collections Services Pty Ltd (Tru Blu) for purchasing credit contracts without a credit licence.
An ASIC investigation found that on 23 October 2012 Tru Blu purchased a loan book consisting of 3,200 credit contracts from the Amazing Loans Group which provided short-term loans to borrowers. Tru Blu then collected money payable. It held a debt collection licence but did not hold an Australian credit licence at the time.
As the purchaser of the loan book, the rights and obligations of the credit contracts were assigned to Tru Blu as a credit provider. This required Tru Blu to hold a credit licence under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth).
The EU requires Tru Blu to:
•cease any credit activity other than the continued receipt of established periodic payments by way of direct transfers;
•require that its directors and staff complete training to ensure future compliance with the NCCP Act ;
•when seeking to recover a fee or charge payable on early termination or repayment of a credit contract, the amount must not exceed the amount of Tru Blu’s loss arising from the early termination or repayment; and
•engage an independent consultant to review Tru Blu’s compliance with the credit legislation and any credit licence conditions. The independent consultant is to report the outcome of its reviews regularly to ASIC for the next two years.
