FEBIS is an active member of the International Committee on Credit Reporting – ICCR.

The ICCR, was established in May 2009 and it is a permanent structure of the World Bank, constituting a unique worldwide committee on credit reporting.

The committee was created and coordinated by The World Bank (WB) with support from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) forming an outstanding structure of governmental and private organizations. It counts, currently, with over 30 members, including private sector service providers (credit reporting service providers associations from Europe, Asia, Eurasia, Africa and Latin America), comprising representatives from the BIS and WBG, G20 central banks and other financial and data privacy regulators, multilateral organizations and service providers represented by their associations.

This prestigious committee is the only recognized international standard setter and guideline issuer on credit reporting.

The Committee is responsible to (i) further develop the international agreed framework in its general principles, (ii) identify areas of further consideration and (iii) devote resources to the elaboration of papers, reports, guidelines and other relevant materials that will effectively support the adequate implementation of the General Principles.

The ICCR supports a forward looking and broad approach to specific issues while achieving consensus in policy aspects that affect public interest.

The committee has issued several publications of its own and one coauthored with the World Bank, which have been adopted as standards and best practice in various jurisdictions and has instructed the baselines in new legislation initiatives.

ICCR publications are available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialsector/brief/international-committee-on-credit-reporting

Main role - To better understand the importance of ICCR’s remit some facts should to be stressed:

Credit reporting systems have emerged to be a crucial part of the financial infrastructure whose functionality can have a significant impact on the global financial system. Robust credit reporting systems promote access to credit, micro prudential supervision, and financial stability. As a result, failure of the credit reporting infrastructure can significantly impact the effective functioning of credit markets and, consequently, impact domestic and global stability.

Like any other activity, credit information sharing facilitated by credit reporting service providers (CRSPs) is inherent with risks and vulnerabilities. CRSPs face operational, cyber, reputation, legal, regulatory and compliance risks among other. The issuance of new legislation and regulations on data protection and privacy laws is also increasing the level of inherent risks and thus, the ICCR acquires more importance to enlighten the path with its concise guidelines.