Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003, ss 95, 102A-105F, 111; Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance (Infringement Offences) Regulations 2015, reg 4
The Commerce Commission can take action against lenders who commit the following kinds of offences against the CCCF Act:
Infringement offences – This is a set of less serious offences, for which the Commerce Commission can issue a lender with an infringement notice and a fine (similar to a speeding ticket). These offences include, for example, leaving out some of the required information from a disclosure statement given to a borrower or not giving the disclosure statement within the required time. Infringement notices carry a fine of $1,000. If, in a particular case, the Commission thinks a more serious response is needed, it can bring a criminal prosecution in court for the infringement offence. In these cases, the maximum penalty is a fine of up to $10,000 for individuals and up to $30,000 for companies.
Other offences – For other, more serious, offences against the CCCF Act, the Commerce Commission can bring criminal prosecutions. For these serious offences, the penalties are much heavier if the lender is convicted – a fine of up to $200,000 for individuals or up to $600,000 for companies. If a lender has been banned by the courts from operating a lending business because they offended repeatedly, and they then breach the order, they can be jailed for up to three months or fined up to $200,000, or both.