Joan Pereira on Moneylenders (Amendment) Bill

The Government should provide better protection for all parties - moneylenders, borrowers and their sureties, said MP Joan Pereira. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 22), she stressed the need to strengthen the system to better protect licensed moneylenders and ensure that there is an even playing field within a healthy business environment and better risk management, while holding them to higher standards. She also stressed the need to protect borrowers and sureties to help them better manage their loan exposures. She wanted to know how the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) would ensure that personal information is only used for approved purposes and what safeguards are in place to ensure that the prescribed credit bureaus will keep borrowers’ information secure and confidential. She also asked under what circumstances would borrowers’ information be shared with other public agencies. Ms Pereira also urged MinLaw to continue to work with stakeholders to build up the professionalism of the sector. One area is loan recovery - by ensuring that there are no threatening or unsavoury practices, she said.