Presentation of the Register

The voluntary Code of Conduct on prior information for consumers concerning home loans was signed on 5 March 2001 by five European consumer associations (European Bureau of Consumers' Unions, Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Community, European Interregional Institute for Consumer Affairs, Association of European Consumers and by six European credit associations offering home loans (European Mortgage Federation, European Federation of Finance House Associations, European Savings Bank Group, European Association of Cooperative Banks, European Federation of Building Societies, European Banking Federation).

The purpose of the Code is to ensure that consumers are given transparent and comparable information on mortgage options.

The bodies adhering to the Code have undertaken to provide consumers with general information on home loans and, before any contract is signed, with personalised information in a standard written format, known as a European Standardised Information Sheet. The sheet describes the product itself and includes the nominal rate of interest, the annual percentage rate of charge, the amount of the loan granted, the term of the loan, early repayment possibilities, redress procedures, etc.

The Commission, which facilitated the negotiations and the final agreement on the Code, adopted a Recommendation on 1 March 2001  inviting all lenders to comply with the provisions of the Code by 30 September 2002. It also undertook to monitor the implementation of the Code and its effectiveness and to set up a central Register listing which institutions offer home loans and which have adopted the Code.

Content of the Register

The Register includes only institutions that have notified the Commission that they offer both mortgage credit and that they adhere to the Code of Conduct.

The Register does not therefore include institutions that are in one of the following situations:

• they do not offer mortgage credit;
• they offer mortgage credit but do not adhere to the Code;
• they offer mortgage credit, adhere to the Code but have not notified the Commission of this.
• The Commission cannot guarantee that the information published in the Register is correct or be held liable for the consequences of any incorrect information, which only reflects the notifications it has received.

In its present form, which will be updated regularly, the Register contains notifications from 13 Member States. Data are still missing for Spain and France but will be incorporated as soon as the Commission receives them. The lack of information from those two countries does not necessarily mean that their lending institutions adhere or do not adhere to the Code.