companies. report of the working group to explore the possibilities of setting up a credit information bureau, oct 1999 statement of objects and reasons – credit information companies ( regulation ) act 2005 bis central bankers ’ speeches facilitate efficient distribution of credit. further, the credit information companies rules, 2006 and the credit information companies regulations, 2006 framed under the act were notified on december 14, 2006 and the act was brought into force. credit information companies ( regulation ) act, 2005 in this regard, the act provides that credit information companies are companies formed and registered under the companies act, 1956 and which have been granted a certificate of registration by the reserve bank. the act also provides that the reserve bank may, having regard to the potential and scope for expansion of the existing credit information companies and other relevant factors, determine the total number of credit information companies which may be granted the certificates of registration for carrying on such business. section 14 of the act enumerates the forms of business which a credit information company may undertake and stipulates that a credit information company shall not engage in any other form of business. section 17 of the act, by and large, stipulates that credit information collected by a credit information company under that section shall be provided to its specified users and that the credit information company and its specified users shall not disclose the credit information received by them to any other person or for any other purpose other than as permitted or required by any other law for the time being in force. these statutory restrictions on disclosure answer the question which is often asked as to whether the act violates the privacy principles laid down in tournier v. national provincial and union bank of england [ 1923 ] all er 550 : [ 1924 ] 1 kb 461 and followed in india. the exceptions to the rule of confidentiality laid down in the tournier ’ s case include disclosure, where there is a duty to the public to disclose and where the interests of the bank require disclosure. since disclosure of information relating to borrowers will enable other credit institutions to take an informed decision regarding lending to such borrowers and the disclosing bank itself benefits by such disclosure as the borrowing of the borrowers concerned may not be expected to increase beyond limits once the other credit institutions also come to know of the existing debt of the borrower, disclosure to credit institutions may be regarded as a duty to the public or a disclosure in the interests of the bank under the tournier principles. thus the provisions of the act may be regarded as striking a balance between

leading to drying up of credit flow and jeopardise bis central bankers ’ speeches the welfare of the poor. a robust credit information sharing framework is thus a very important constituent of financial system and all of us must strive to strengthen it further. i thank you all once again for your attention and i wish the conference all success. thank you. bibliography : barron john m & michael staten, “ the value of comprehensive credit reports : lessons from the us experience ” bernardo alberto, marco pagano and salvatore piccolo, “ multiple bank lending, creditor rights and information sharing ” borwn, martin & christian zehnder, “ credit registries, relationship banking and loan repayment ” doblas - madrid antonio & raoul minetti, “ sharing information in the credit market : contract - level evidence from us firms ” jappelli, tullio, and pagano, marco, “ information sharing in credit markets ” - - -, “ information sharing, lending and defaults : cross - country evidence ” joseph e stiglitz, “ information and the change in the paradigm in economics ” joseph e stiglitz & andrew weiss, “ credit rationing in markets with imperfect information ” michael a turner & robin varghese, “ the economic consequences of consumer credit information sharing : efficiency, inclusion & privacy ” oecd, facilitating access to finance – discussion paper on credit information sharing padilla a jorge & marco pagano, “ sharing default information as a borrower discipline device ” robert m hunt, federal reserve bank of philadelphia, “ the development and regulation of consumer credit reporting in america ” world bank - imf, “ financial sector assessment : a handbook ( 2005 ) ” bis central bankers ’ speeches