Information Sharing in Credit Markets: The European Experience

Tullio Jappelli () and Marco Pagano

CSEF Working Papers from Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy

Abstract: We describe the operation of credit bureaus and public credit registers in Europe and extract potential lessons for upgrading credit registers in other countries. The evidence that we report is based on questionnaires directed to private credit bureaus and central banks, on direct interviews and on official sources. The European experience highlights a set of important issues. First, European privacy protection laws affect greatly the amount and type of information shared between lenders. Second, credit bureaus tend to originate from local lenders. Third, in Europe as elsewhere there are powerful forces pushing towards consolidation of the credit bureaus industry. While this process reflects the "natural monopoly" feature of the industry, its pace has been accelerated by technological factors and, especially within Europe, by the increasing international integration of capital markets. Three annexes complete the paper, reporting detailed descriptions of private credit bureaus activity in European countries, the main features of European public credit registers, and privacy protection restrictions to the activity of credit bureaus and public credit registers in Europe.

Keywords: information sharing; credit markets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D82 G21 G28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (41)

Published in Credit Reporting Systems and the International Economy, edited by M. Miller. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sef:csefwp:35

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