§ Mr. Weetchasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he intends to make compulsory in the near future a statement of the annual percentage rate of interest charged by building societies in their advertisements.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherBuilding societies are at present exempt from the Consumer Credit Advertisements Regulations 1980, which require the inclusion of the annual percentage rate of interest in advertisements for credit. The Director General of Fair Trading has recommended that this exemption should be withdrawn so that both the advertisements and the quotations regulations apply equally to all financial institutions and other bodies engaged in house mortgage lending. I am considering the implications of the director general's report and will make a statement in due course.