Providers must obtain FCA authorization (or enter the temporary permissions regime opening May 15) and comply with consumer credit rules including pre-sale product disclosures, creditworthiness assessments even for loans under £50 and consumer duty requirements for fair value and good outcomes throughout the customer journey.

Alix notes these changes, while front-loaded with compliance costs, should enhance asset quality through mandated credit checks, improve consumer transparency and provide market-wide data through regulatory reporting, potentially paving the way for the first public DPC-backed securitizations. "Regulation is not just a reaction to critical mass...it brings positive benefits," she writes, including better credit quality and informed consumer choices.

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