Leading international best regulatory principles in responsible lending policy: lessons for Namibia

Abstract

The economic downturn following the 2008 global financial crisis has inter alia invoked a movement towards responsible lending practices in order to protect credit consumers from irresponsible lending and over-indebtedness. In Namibian consumer credit law, in as much as debt prevention measures are contained in three pieces of legislation, there are still no responsible lending measures in place. This article provides an overview of the current and emerging international regulatory measures intended to promote responsible lending policy. It begins by tracing the development of consumer credit policies from truth-in-lending to responsible lending responses. It then provides a broad survey of the efforts aimed at promoting responsible lending policy with the aim of determining current trends and guidelines for devising a responsible lending regime and formulates leading international best principles for a modern and effective responsible lending regime. It is submitted that these leading international best principles can be useful lessons for countries such as Namibia and other developing countries alike in improving their national consumer credit law policies.