Consumer Credit Advertising in the United Kingdom and Italy: the Shortcomings of the Consumer Credit Directive and Scope for Review

This contribution examines comparatively the national laws of the United Kingdom and Italy transposing the provisions of consumer credit advertising as set by the Consumer Credit Directive on account of its review. The Consumer Credit Directive is a full harmonization measure that aims to create a single market in the area of consumer credit with a high level of consumer protection. At the same time, the provision on consumer credit advertising offers a legal choice to Member States as regards its transposition into domestic law. The United Kingdom and Italy have opted for different legal choices. The ultimate question is the extent to which the Directive achieves its goal of creating an internal market and an adequate standard of consumer protection in advertising credit services to consumers. A comparison of the two jurisdictions suggests otherwise. This is due to a combination of the limited scope of the Consumer Credit Directive, its full harmonisation character, and the transposition of the legal choice explicitly left to Member States by the law.