Ramsay, Iain; Williams, Toni --- "The Crash that Launched a Thousand Fixes: Regulation of Consumer Credit after the Lending Revolution and the Credit Crunch" [2011] ELECD 1049; in Alexander, Kern; Moloney, Niamh (eds), "Law Reform and Financial Markets" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Law Reform and Financial Markets

Editor(s): Alexander, Kern; Moloney, Niamh

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857936622

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: The Crash that Launched a Thousand Fixes: Regulation of Consumer Credit after the Lending Revolution and the Credit Crunch

Author(s): Ramsay, Iain; Williams, Toni

Number of pages: 31

Extract:

7. The crash that launched a thousand
fixes: Regulation of consumer credit
after the lending revolution and the
credit crunch
Iain Ramsay and Toni Williams1

INTRODUCTION

The consumer lending `revolution'2 ­ with its promise of the democratisa-
tion of credit ­ was followed by the credit crunch. The credit crunch has
stimulated both immediate regulatory initiatives and more fundamental
reflection on consumer credit regulation.3 As the Turner Review in the UK

1 An earlier draft of this chapter was presented at the University of Tokyo, 9

March 2009. We thank those who made comments, in particular Professor Hi-san
Hirose.
2 See Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Evaluating the Consumer

Lending Revolution (2003), available at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/analytical/
fyi/2003/091703fyi.html and R. Brown and S. Burhouse, `Implications of the
Supply-Side Revolution in Consumer Lending', 24 St. Louis University Public Law
Review, 363 (2005). This revolution included: financial liberalisation, deregulation
of interest rates, securitisation, the application of sophisticated computer technol-
ogy to develop predictive credit scores and risk-based pricing, and the increasing
spread of all-purpose credit cards.
3 In the UK these include: `A New Approach to Consumer Credit' in A Better

Deal for Consumers: Delivering Real Help Now and Change for the Future, Cm 7669
(London: TSO, 2009); `Supporting and Protecting Consumers' in HM Treasury ,
Reforming Financial Markets, Cm 7667 (London: TSO, 2009); HM Treasury, A
New Approach to Financial Regulation: Judgment, Focus and Stability, Cm 7874
(London: TSO, 2010), ch 4; Financial ...