Key Benefits:
The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry,
Having regard to Directive 2008/48/EC of 23 April 2008 on consumer credit contracts and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC, including its article 19;
Vu le Consumer code, in his writing from the Act No. 2010-737 of 1 July 2010 reforming consumer credit, including articles L. 313-1 and R. 313-1 to R. 313-5;
Vu le monetary and financial codeincluding articles L. 313-4, R. 313-1, R. 743-3, R. 753-3 and R. 763-3;
See?Article 61 of Act No. 2010-737 of 1 July 2010 reforming credit to consumption;
Vu le Decree No. 78-262 of 8 March 1978 amended to fix the rate of notaries;
See?Article 2 of Decree No. 2010-1004 of 30 August 2010 the threshold for the regime applicable to credit consolidation operations;
Having regard to the advice of the Advisory Committee on Financial Legislation and Regulation dated 13 October and 15 December 2010;
The State Council (Finance Section) heard,
Decrete:
I. ― Section R. 313-1 of the Consumer Code is replaced by the following provisions:
"Art.R. 313-1.-I. ― The calculation of the overall effective rate is based on the assumption that the credit contract will remain valid for the agreed period and that the lender and borrower will fulfill their obligations under the terms and time specified in the credit contract. For credit contracts with clauses that allow for adjustment of the interest rate and, where applicable, costs that fall within the overall actual rate but cannot be quantified at the time of calculation, the overall effective rate is calculated based on the assumption that the interest rate and other costs will remain fixed relative to the initial level and will apply to the end of the credit contract.
“II. ― For credit transactions intended to finance the needs of a professional activity or intended for legal persons of public law as well as for those referred to in Article L. 312-2, the overall effective rate is an annual rate, proportional to the period rate, to term expired and expressed per cent monetary units. The period rate and duration of the period must be expressly communicated to the borrower.
"The period rate is calculated actuarially, from a unitary period corresponding to the periodicity of payments made by the borrower. It ensures, on the basis of the compound interest method, equality between, on the one hand, the sums lent and, on the other hand, all payments due by the borrower under this loan, in capital, interest and miscellaneous expenses, being, if any, estimated.
"When the payment is irregular, the unitary period is the one that corresponds to the smallest interval between two payments. However, the smallest calculation interval cannot be less than one month.
"When payments are made with a frequency other than yearly, the overall effective rate is obtained by multiplying the period rate from the ratio between the calendar year and the unit period. The report is calculated, if any, with at least one decimal accuracy.
"If the credit takes the form of an opening of drawing rights to finance the needs of a professional activity, the overall effective rate is calculated on the totality of the rights available to the client.
"III. ― For all credit transactions other than those mentioned in the II, the overall effective rate is referred to as the "global effective annual rate" and calculated in term expired, expressed per cent monetary units, according to the equivalence method defined by the formula annexed to this article. The duration of the period must be expressly communicated to the borrower.
"The overall effective annual rate is actuarially calculated and, on the basis of the compound interest method, ensures equality between, on the one hand, the amounts lent and, on the other hand, all payments due by the borrower under this loan for the refund of the capital and the payment of the total cost of the credit within the meaning of the 5th of Article L. 311-1, these elements being, if any, estimated.
"The notarial fee established pursuant to Decree No. 78-262 of 8 March 1978 fixing the rate of notaries shall not be taken into account in calculating this rate. »
II.-A The following provisions are added to the annex to the same article:
« Hypothesis
"The calculation of the overall effective annual rate is, if applicable, in accordance with the following assumptions:
« 1° If a credit contract leaves the consumer the free choice of the method of use of the credit, the total amount of the credit is deemed to be fully and immediately used;
« 2° If a credit contract provides the consumer with different possibilities for the use of the credit, with different fees or debt rates, the total amount of the credit is deemed to be used at the highest rate of debt and with the highest fees in the most frequently used category of transactions in this type of credit contract;
« 3° If a credit contract generally leaves the consumer the free choice of the method of use of the credit, but includes a limit on the amount and duration of the credit, the amount of the credit is deemed to be used at the nearest date provided in the contract and in accordance with these terms of use;
« 4° If no time frame is set for reimbursement:
“(a) The credit is deemed to be granted for a period of one year; and
“(b) The amount of the credit is assumed to be refunded in twelve equal monthly payments;
« 5° If a plan is set for reimbursement, but the amounts to be refunded vary, the amount of each refund is deemed to be the lowest in the contract;
« 6° Unless otherwise stipulated, where the credit contract provides for several dates of refund, the credit is provided and the refunds are made on the nearest date provided in the contract;
« 7° If the credit ceiling has not yet been stopped, the ceiling is supposed to be €1,500;
« 8° In the event of an uncovered facility, the total amount of the credit is deemed to be used in full and for the total duration of the credit contract. If the duration of the credit contract is not known, the overall effective annual rate is calculated based on the assumption that the duration of the credit is three months;
« 9° If different interest rates and fees are proposed for a limited period of time or for a limited amount, the interest rate and fees are deemed to be the highest rate and fees for the total duration of the credit contract;
« 10° For consumer credit contracts for which a fixed debtor rate has been agreed in the initial period, at the end of which a new debtor rate is established and is then periodically adjusted according to an agreed indicator, the calculation of the overall effective annual rate is based on the assumption that, from the end of the fixed debtor period, the debtor rate is the same as at the time of the calculation of the overall effective annual rate, based on the value of the fixed-rate period »
Section R. 313-2 of the same code is replaced by the following provisions:
"Art.R. 313-2.-For an uncovered permit or an uncovered facility, where the overall effective annual rate is calculated prior to use, the calculation shall be carried out according to the method defined by the formula annexed to this code and referred to in Article III R. 313-1.
"After the use of an uncovered authorization, an uncovered facility or an overrun, the overall effective annual rate is calculated by referring the amount of the credit to be taken into account, according to the method of the numbers defined by the B of the schedule to Decree n° 2002-928 of 10 June 2002 taken under section 1 of Decree n° 2002-927 of 10 June 2002, at a period of one day to the deemed expiration of
"For discoveries intended to fund the needs of a professional activity, the overall effective rate is calculated by referring to the amount of the credit to be taken into account, according to the method of the numbers mentioned in the preceding paragraph, to a period of one day at the expiry of which it is deemed to be refunded at the same time as the agios thereto.For this purpose, each of the successive debt balances entered into account during the period between two days »
I. ― Decree No. 2002-928 of 10 June 2002 taken in application ofArticle 1 of Decree No. 2002-927 of 10 June 2002 the calculation of the overall actual rate applicable to the consumer credit and amending the consumer code is amended as follows:
1° Section 3 is replaced by the following:
"Art. 3.-The result of the calculation is expressed with accuracy of at least one decimal place. If the figure of the next decimal place is greater than or equal to 5, the number of the first decimal place will be increased by 1.”
2° An article 3 bis is inserted as follows:
"Art. 3 bis. ― The provisions of this decree are applicable in New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the Wallis and Futuna Islands. » ;
3° In the entire schedule, each occurrence of the word "permanent" is replaced by the word "renewable";
4° After the second example of the Appendix B, the following paragraphs are added:
"Third example: Renewable Credit.
"Or a revolving credit at a nominal rate of 1.2 per cent per month, no other fees.
"The overall effective annual rate is obtained by the formula:
« TAEG = (1 + 1.2 %) 1 2 ― 1.
"TAG = 15.4%. »
II.-The provisions of Decree No. 2002-928 of 10 June 2002 as amended by I may be amended by decree.
I. ― provisions of articles R. 313-1 and R. 313-2 of the Consumer Code, in their writing from this decree, are applicable in New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the Wallis and Futuna Islands.
II.-The last paragraph of Article 2 of Decree No. 2010-1004 of 30 August 2010 referred to above is replaced by the following provisions:
"Art.R. 315-1.-R. 313-1, R. 313-2 and R. 313-11 are applicable in New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the Wallis and Futuna Islands."
This Order comes into force on the day of the entry into force of Title I of Act No. 2010-737 of 1 July 2010 referred to under section 61 of the Act.
The Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry is responsible for the execution of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done on 1 February 2011.
François Fillon
By the Prime Minister:
Minister of Economy,
finance and industry,
Christine Lagarde
