Provident Personal Credit Limited trading as Provident

Background The Firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Provident Financial plc and part of the Provident Financial group, a public limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The principal activity of the Firm is the provision of unsecured home credit loans to consumers in the Republic of Ireland where the Firm has operated as a licensed moneylender, under the Consumer Credit Act, 1995 (the “Act”) since 1 August 1996. The Firm’s business model is based upon the supply of low value loans, in situations whereby the majority of those loans are arranged by a large number of agents acting on behalf of the Firm. The Act specifically envisages that a licensed moneylender can appoint agents to act on its behalf. Where the Central Bank becomes aware of non-compliance with regulatory requirements by an agent of a licensed moneylender, as far as the Act and the Central Bank are concerned, those actions constitute the actions of the Firm. As the statutory body responsible for the regulation of the licensed moneylending sector, the Central Bank is responsible for, amongst other things, the on-going licensing and supervision of activities of licensed moneylenders including the monitoring of their compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements. In late 2012 the Consumer Protection Directorate of the Central Bank conducted a themed inspection into licensed moneylenders, the results of which were published on 6 March 2013.