The Government has put forward a proposal for new legislation to strengthen protection for borrowers and regulate non-performing credit agreements in accordance with an EU directive. The proposed act requires that actors that administer such credit agreements obtain a permit from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and places strict requirements on the administration of the agreements.
On 6 October this year, the Government presented a proposal for new regulations for acquisition and administration of non-performing credit agreements. The background to the proposal is the EU's directive 2021/2167 that the member states should have incorporated and that should be applied from 30 December 2023. The bill includes a Government proposal for a new act on acquisition and administration of non-performing credit agreements, that is to say, credit agreements where the borrower cannot pay the credit on time. The new act has the aim of strengthening regulation of the market for transfers of non-performing credit agreements, combating rogue operators and increasing the protection of borrowers.
Among other things, the new act will mean that actors which conduct credit management of non-performing credit agreements on behalf of a credit purchaser need a permit from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority insofar as the actor is not a credit institution, consumer credit institution or mortgage institution. Neither shall a permit be required for credit management performed by investment companies, managers of alternative investment funds or lawyers. The new act also places requirements on the actual administration of the credit agreement and will provide strengthened protection for borrowers. The government is also proposing that supervision for conducting debt-collection activities be moved from the Swedish Privacy Protection Authority to the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. Parliament is expected to pass the bill on 22 November this year and the new rules are proposed to enter into force on 1 January 2024.
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